Abstract

Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) have been used to develop methods for Traffic Engineering (TE) over IP-based networks in the last few years, being used to reach the best set of link weights in the configuration of intra-domain routing protocols, such as OSPF. In this work, the multiobjective nature of a class of optimization problems provided by TE with Quality of Service constraints is identified. Multiobjective EAs (MOEAs) are developed to tackle these tasks and their results are compared to previous approaches using single objective EAs. The effect of distinct genetic representations within the MOEAs is also explored. The results show that the MOEAs provide more flexible solutions for network management, but are in some cases unable to reach the level of quality obtained by single objective EAs. Furthermore, a freely available software application is described that allows the use of the mentioned optimization algorithms by network administrators, in an user-friendly way by providing adequate user interfaces for the main TE tasks. FCT - project ref. PTDC/EIA-EIA/115176/2009; grant UMINHO/BII/061/2009