arXiv subjects

A. Ganesh

Publications and source records attributed to A. Ganesh.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Pigouvian Tolls and Welfare Optimality with Parallel Servers and Heterogeneous Customers

Congestion externalities are a well-known phenomenon in transportation and communication networks, healthcare etc. Optimization by self-interested agents in such settings typically results in equilibria which are sub-optimal for social welfare. Pigouvian taxes or tolls, which impose a user charge equal to the negative externality caused by the marginal user to other users, are a mechanism for combating this problem. In this paper, we study a non-atomic congestion game in which heterogeneous agents choose amongst a finite set of heterogeneous servers. The delay at a server is an increasing function of its load. Agents differ in their sensitivity to delay. We show that, while selfish optimisation by agents is sub-optimal for social welfare, imposing admission charges at the servers equal to the Pigouvian tax causes the user equilibrium to maximize social welfare. In addition, we characterize the structure of welfare optimal and of equilibrium allocations.

cs.GT↗

arXiv2015

Maximal Steiner Trees in the Stochastic Mean-Field Model of Distance

Consider the complete graph on $n$ vertices, with edge weights drawn independently from the exponential distribution with unit mean. Janson showed that the typical distance between two vertices scales as $\log{n}/n$, whereas the diameter (maximum distance between any two vertices) scales as $3\log{n}/n$. Bollobás et al. showed that, for any fixed k, the weight of the Steiner tree connecting $k$ typical vertices scales as $(k-1)\log{n}/n$, which recovers Janson's result for $k=2$. We extend this result to show that the worst case $k$-Steiner tree, over all choices of $k$ vertices, has weight scaling as $(2k-1)\log{n}/n$ and finally, we generalise this result to Steiner trees with a mixture of typical and worst case vertices.

math.PR↗

arXiv2010

Load Balancing via Random Local Search in Closed and Open systems

In this paper, we analyze the performance of random load resampling and migration strategies in parallel server systems. Clients initially attach to an arbitrary server, but may switch server independently at random instants of time in an attempt to improve their service rate. This approach to load balancing contrasts with traditional approaches where clients make smart server selections upon arrival (e.g., Join-the-Shortest-Queue policy and variants thereof). Load resampling is particularly relevant in scenarios where clients cannot predict the load of a server before being actually attached to it. An important example is in wireless spectrum sharing where clients try to share a set of frequency bands in a distributed manner.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2008

A model for infection on graphs

We address the question of understanding the effect of the underlying network topology on the spread of a virus and the dissemination of information when users are mobile performing independent random walks on a graph. To this end we propose a simple model of infection that enables to study the coincidence time of two random walkers on an arbitrary graph. By studying the coincidence time of a susceptible and an infected individual both moving in the graph we obtain estimates of the infection probability. The main result of this paper is to pinpoint the impact of the network topology on the infection probability. More precisely, we prove that for homogeneous graph including regular graphs and the classical Erdos-Renyi model, the coincidence time is inversely proportional to the number of nodes in the graph. We then study the model on power-law graphs, that exhibit heterogeneous connectivity patterns, and show the existence of a phase transition for the coincidence time depending on the parameter of the power-law of the degree distribution.

math.PR↗

arXiv2008

Exponential random graphs as models of overlay networks

In this paper, we give an analytic solution for graphs with n nodes and E edges for which the probability of obtaining a given graph G is specified in terms of the degree sequence of G. We describe how this model naturally appears in the context of load balancing in communication networks, namely Peer-to-Peer overlays. We then analyse the degree distribution of such graphs and show that the degrees are concentrated around their mean value. Finally, we derive asymptotic results on the number of edges crossing a graph cut and use these results $(i)$ to compute the graph expansion and conductance, and $(ii)$ to analyse the graph resilience to random failures.

math.PR↗

arXiv2006

Thresholds for virus spread on networks

We study how the spread of computer viruses, worms, and other self-replicating malware is affected by the logical topology of the network over which they propagate. We consider a model in which each host can be in one of 3 possible states - susceptible, infected or removed (cured, and no longer susceptible to infection). We characterise how the size of the population that eventually becomes infected depends on the network topology. Specifically, we show that if the ratio of cure to infection rates is larger than the spectral radius of the graph, and the initial infected population is small, then the final infected population is also small in a sense that can be made precise. Conversely, if this ratio is smaller than the spectral radius, then we show in some graph models of practical interest (including power law random graphs) that the final infected population is large. These results yield insights into what the critical parameters are in determining virus spread in networks.

math.PR↗

arXiv2005

Routing in Poisson small-world networks

In recent work, Jon Kleinberg considered a small-world network model consisting of a d-dimensional lattice augmented with shortcuts. The probability of a shortcut being present between two points decays as a power of the distance between them. Kleinberg studied the efficiency of greedy routing depending on the value of the power. The results were extended to a continuum model by Franceschetti and Meester. In our work, we extend the result to more realistic models constructed from a Poisson point process, wherein each point is connected to all its neighbours within some fixed radius, as well as possessing random shortcuts to more distant nodes as described above.

math.PR↗