Routing for Energy Minimization in the Speed Scaling Model

In this talk we consider a min-cost integer routing problem where the cost function represents the energy curve of a network element. Subadditive cost functions are well studied. We focus on the less-studied polynomial functions and polynomials with a startup cost.

The problem is interesting for two reasons. First, the cost function closely models the energy consumption of some network elements and network-wide optimization is a well-motivated but under-explored direction for energy minimization. Second, it brings light to a challenging combinatorial optimization problem. We will present positive and negative results for polynomial functions and polynomial functions with startup cost. For the latter, techniques to accomplish better-than-polynomial approximation ratios independent of demands and cost function remains a challenging problem.

Joint work with Matthew Andrews, Lisa Zhang, and Wenbo Zha