Distributed optimization of traffic delay on a periodic switched grid network

Given a switched network, e.g. a city grid with semaphores in its intersections or a packet network, each unit (car or packet) accumulates some delay while traversing the network. This delay is undesirable but unavoidable, which makes minimizing the total average delay of the network given certain constraints, a desirable objective. In this work, we consider the case of periodic networks, meaning that in every traffic cycle inputs to the system are the same and we try to arrive to an allocation of phases in every intersection that minimizes the total delay per cycle. We propose a model for such networks in which the delay is given as a function of external parameters (arrivals to the system) as well as internal parameters (switching decisions). Additionally, we present a distributed algorithm which makes use of messages passed between adjacent nodes to arrive at a solution with low delay, when compared with what is obtained when nodes take decisions independently. Furthermore, dealing with large networks proves difficult to arrive to theoretical results. This distributed algorithm gives an insight on how one can analyze big networks by taking a local approach and determining bounds in smaller networks that are part of the big picture.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Kozynski Waserman, Fabián Ariel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lizhong Zheng.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84867

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/84867