Collaborative Research: Complex Networks Optimization

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This research project will study optimization algorithms rooted in the ideas of game theory in the context of complex network optimization, and particularly decentralized network optimization. Probably the central issue in managing such decentralized networks has been how to set prices so as to motivate the competing users to evolve to an overall system optimal configuration. The research will investigate the powerful paradigm of economic competition in the framework of artificial dynamic games that are played off-line, resulting in an algorithm that is potentially practical for large-scale systems optimization. The basic paradigm that will be investigated derives from Fictitious Play which is an adaptive procedure wherein each player assumes that other players will play according to the empirical distribution of their previous plays. The Fictitious Play method is a novel paradigm for optimization that draws from several distinct disciplines and application areas, including classical optimization, game theory, transportation science, and queueing network protocols. The robust nature of the algorithm allows for the ill-structured black box models of real systems which seldom exhibit the kind of smoothness properties that classical optimization methods demand. Its applicability in the context of two important real-world systems: a) internet traffic routing protocols and b) dynamic route guidance will be tested. Complex networks optimization is an important capability in a society increasingly dominated by ever more complex networks of people and machines. Examples include intelligent transportation systems, computer networks, and supply chains of customers and suppliers. The success of the research will lead to the development of a theoretical basis for the optimization of such complex-structured systems. The applicability of the proposed algorithmic paradigm of game theory through its application to realistic problems arising in the design and operation of the communications and transportation networks will be tested and refined. This research will not only lead to potential improvements in these application arenas but will also necessitate significant interactions with industry and government to insure realism for the models and data developed.