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1. S. Aalto and U. Ayesta, SRPT applied to bandwidth-sharing networks, Annals of Operations Research, vol. 170, pp. 3-19, 2009 (bib)

   Abstract: Data networks loaded with elastic flows can be modelled by the so-called bandwidth-sharing networks. Until now, the research has concentrated on stability issues, and the problem of how to improve the delay performance is still open to a large extent. In this paper we take a step towards the solution of this problem by utilizing the scheduling discipline SRPT (Shortest Remaining Processing Time) in a controlled way. Our main idea is not to use SRPT globally between the traffic classes, which has been shown to induce instability, but rather deploy SRPT only locally within each traffic class. We show that the performance of any stable state-dependent bandwidth allocation policy can be improved by this approach. Importantly, our result is valid for any network topology and any flow size distribution. An extensive numerical study is included to illustrate the results.