Research Article
An Improved Method for Discovering Link Criticality in Transport Networks
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.BROADNETS2009.7266, author={Juan Segovia and Eusebi Calle and Pere Vil\'{a}}, title={An Improved Method for Discovering Link Criticality in Transport Networks}, proceedings={6th International ICST Conference on Broadband Communications, Networks, and Systems}, publisher={IEEE}, proceedings_a={BROADNETS}, year={2009}, month={11}, keywords={Routing in GMPLS networks link criticality betweenness centrality}, doi={10.4108/ICST.BROADNETS2009.7266} }
- Juan Segovia
Eusebi Calle
Pere Vilà
Year: 2009
An Improved Method for Discovering Link Criticality in Transport Networks
BROADNETS
IEEE
DOI: 10.4108/ICST.BROADNETS2009.7266
Abstract
Quantitatively assessing the importance or criticality of each link in a network is of practical value to operators, as that can help them to increase the network’s resilience, provide more efficient services, or improve some other aspect of the service. Betweenness is a graph-theoretical measure of centrality that can be applied to communication networks to evaluate link importance. However, as we illustrate in this paper, the basic definition of betweenness centrality produces inaccurate estimations as it does not take into account some aspects relevant to networking, such as the heterogeneity in link capacity or the difference between node-pairs in their contribution to the total traffic. A new algorithm for discovering link centrality in transport networks is proposed in this paper. It requires only static or semi-static network and topology attributes, and yet produces estimations of good accuracy, as verified through extensive simulations. Its potential value is demonstrated by an example application. In the example, the simple shortest-path routing algorithm is improved in such a way that it outperforms other more advanced algorithms in terms of blocking ratio.