Beyond Optimality: New Trends in Network Optimization

  • Mung Chiang | Princeton University

Optimization of communication networks has recently witnessed an impressive growth of research activities. In addition to viewing networks as objects to be optimized, some of these works also view networks as optimizers themselves. In addition to “Design by Optimization”, some recent results also demonstrate the principle of “Design for Optimizability”. Indeed, more than a tool to solve for optimal resource allocation, optimization theory provides to networking applications all of the following: a modeling language for design, a reverse-engineering methodology for analysis, a theoretical foundation for architectural decisions, a quantitative basis for fairness and robustness, and even an indicator of flaws in engineering assumptions. Many of these new uses of optimization actually do not involve solving any problem optimally.

Reflecting upon the history of optimization-based solutions to congestion, collision, and interference in the last 15 years, this talk discusses the reach and limitation of network optimization. Then, drawing from recent results on open problems in stochastic utility maximization and Internet routing, this talk surveys the emerging trends that give many new meanings to the phrase “Optimization of Networks and by Networks”.

Speaker Details

Mung Chiang is an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and an affiliated faculty of Applied and Computational Mathematics and of Computer Science at Princeton University. He received the B.S. (Honors) in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1999, 2000, and 2003, respectively. He conducts research in the areas of optimization, distributed algorithms, and stochastic models of communication networks, with applications to broadband access networks, wireless networks, the Internet, and content delivery and sharing.He received CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research, Howard B. Wentz Junior Faculty Award and Engineering School Teaching Commendation from Princeton University, School of Engineering Terman Award from Stanford University, New Technology Introduction Award from SBC Communications, and was a Hertz Foundation Fellow and Stanford Graduate Fellow. For his work on broadband access networks and Internet traffic engineering, he was selected for the TR35 Young Technologist Award in 2007, a list of top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35. His monograph on Geometric Programming was selected by Mathematical Programming Society as one of the top 3 papers by young authors in the area of continuous optimization during 2004-2007. His work on Layering As Optimization Decomposition became a Fast Breaking Paper in Computer Science by ISI citation. He also co-authored papers that were IEEE Infocom best paper finalist and IEEE Globecom best student paper. He has served as guest or associate editor for IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, IEEE/ACM Trans. Netw., IEEE J. Sel. Area Comm., IEEE Trans. Wireless Comm., Springer Journal of Optimization and Engineering, as a Program Co-Chair of the 38th Conference on Information Sciences and Systems, and a co-editor of the new Springer book series on “Optimization and Control of Communication Systems”.

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