Applying an evolutionary algorithm to telecommunication network design

This paper deals with the application of evolutionary computation to teleco mmunication network design. Design of a two-layer network is considered, wh ere the upper-layer (UL) network uses resources of the lower-layer (LL) net work. UL links. determine demands for the LL and are implemented using LL p aths (admissible paths). Within a fixed LL network topology, given the dema nds and admissible paths, we aim to find the LL link capacities for impleme nting the UL links, minimizing the cost of the LL. Robust design issues are also taken into consideration, allowing for failure of a certain part of t he LL and postulating that after some reallocation in the LL, demands are s till realized an assumed extent. An algorithm based on an evolutionary tech nique is introduced, with problem-specific genetic operators to improve com puting efficiency. A theoretical study of properties of the operators is ma de and several experiments are performed to tune the parameters of the algo rithm. Finally, its performance Working aggregation. is compared with other design techniques, including integer programming.