An exact approach for finding bicriteria maximally SRLG-disjoint/shortest path pairs in telecommunication networks

Abstract The paper addresses a bicriteria optimisation problem in telecommunication networks that aims at finding Pareto efficient pairs of paths between two given nodes, seeking to minimise the number of SRLGs (Shared Risk Link Groups) common to both paths and the path pair cost. This problem is of particular importance in telecommunication routing design, namely concerning resilient routing models where both a primary and a backup paths have to be calculated to minimise the risk of failure of a connection between origin and terminal nodes, in case of failure in the primary path. An exact resolution method is applied for solving this problem, enabling the calculation of the whole set of Pareto optimal solutions, which combines a transformation of the network representation with a path ranking algorithm. A comprehensive experimental study on the application of this approach, using reference network topologies, considering random SRLG assignments to the links and random link bandwidth occupations, together with the discussion on typical examples of solution selection and potential advantages of the method, are presented.