Applying an evolutionary algorithm to telecommunication network design

This paper deals with the application of evolutionary computation to telecommunication network design. Design of a two-layer network is considered, where the upper-layer (UL) network uses resources of the lower-layer (LL) network. UL links determine demands for the LL and are implemented using LL paths (admissible paths). Within a fixed LL network topology, given the demands and admissible paths, we aim to find the LL link capacities for implementing the UL links, minimizing the cost of the LL. Robust design issues are also taken into consideration, allowing for failure of a certain part of the LL and postulating that, after some re-allocation in the LL, demands are still realized to an assumed extent. An algorithm based on an evolutionary technique is introduced, with problem-specific genetic operators to improve computing efficiency. A theoretical study of properties of the operators is made and several experiments are performed to tune the parameters of the algorithm. Finally, its performance is compared with other design techniques, including integer programming.