Distributed algorithms for the constrained quickest routing problem in multimedia communications

Abstract

The shortest path problem is possibly the most important problem for data routing in multimedia communication. Chen and Chin (1989) have proposed a new variant of shortest path problem, termed the quickest path problem. The quickest path problem is to find quickest paths in a computer network to transmit a given amount of data with minimal transmission time. The selection of quickest paths depends on both the characteristics of the computer network and the amount of data to be transmitted. The quickest path problem is to find quickest paths to send a certain amount of data through a communication network. Besides, if the quickest paths are required to go through a specified path, then the restricted problem is called the constrained quickest path problem. Some new distributed routing algorithms are developed for multimedia data transfer in an asynchronous communication network. For all pairs of nodes in a network, an O(mn) messages and O(m) time distributed algorithm is first presented to find constrained quickest paths, and then an O(mn) messages and O(m) time distributed algorithm is presented to enumerate the first k quickest paths.