Integrative Weight Aggregation Framework for Network Flow Priority Quantification

For the purposes of the success of the mission, alignment of network flow priorities with the commander"s intent is necessary. Simple assignment of flow priorities in an operational setting where there are multiple commanders, results in priority conflicts of flows that share the same link(s) since each commander is likely to have a subjective idea about the importance of their flows. This conflict can be characterized in the time slot assignment at TDMA level, queue allocation and management at the routers and so on. We propose an integrative framework to conflict resolution. Our approach aims to solve the resource allocation in the single-supplier-multiple-consumer problem setting; hence, when alternative routes (multiple suppliers) are available (e.g., multipath routing), new resources are automatically optimally utilized. Furthermore, our resource allocation technique eliminates starvation while satisfying at least minimum required resources. Finally, we provide alternative roadmaps to implement our scheme in multiple architectures commonly available in today"s routers such as DiffServ and MPLS.