IN Load Control Using a Competitive Market-Based Multi-agent System

Intelligent Networks (IN) are used in telecommunication networks to provide services that require a decision-making network element. This element is the Service Control Point (SCP). An overload of an SCP can result in a great reduction in the Quality of Service (QoS) provided by the IN. While traditional IN load control algorithms assume a single service network model or make use of a centralized controller, in this paper we propose and investigate a market-based model for solving the distributed IN load control problem for a multi-service network, where any service can be provided by any SCP. Furthermore, we study a realization of this model based on a multi-agent system (MAS) and finally draw conclusions as to both its efficiency and effectiveness.