Fair Multi-Resource Allocation in Heterogeneous Servers With an External Resource Type

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of fair allocation of multiple types of resources in heterogeneous servers, along with a resource type external to those servers. Our work is motivated by the need for fair multi-resource allocation in mobile edge computing (MEC), where the users must upload their tasks over a single dedicated wireless communication link that exists outside the computing servers. We propose a fair multi-resource allocation mechanism for this environment, termed Task Share Fairness with External Resource (TSF-ER), which finds the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargaining solution satisfying important fairness properties. We show that TSF-ER is envy-free, Pareto optimal, and strategy-proof, and it satisfies the property of sharing incentive. Large-scale simulation driven by Google and Alibaba cluster trace further shows that TSF-ER significantly outperforms the existing utilitarian, Nash social welfare maximizer, and egalitarian solutions, leading to fairer resource allocation while maintaining a high level of resource utilization.