Some Proposals to Improve the AntNet Algorithm: Application to the Evaluation and Management of a Telecommunication Network

Marcos Gallego-Schmid, Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica, University of Malaga, Spain
Email: gallego@dentex.dte.uma.es

Gonzalo Joya, Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica, University of Malaga, Spain

Francisco Sandoval, , Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica, University of Malaga, Spain

In this work we propose a set of modifications to the AntNet routing algorithm developed by Di Caro, G., and Dorigo, M., and its application to the evaluation and management of a telecommunication network. AntNet is a distributed and adaptive routing algorithm, based on mobile agents (Ant Colony paradigm) which indirectly interact through changes in their environment (stimergy). In order to obtain a higher level of performance we briefly suggest the following modifications: A non-rigid ant generation is proposed. We reach this dynamism by imposing a maximum number of ants in the network at any moment. Under that limit, the generation rate will be given by the mean delay time of the packets. Traffic introduction, as the possibility of the ant to wait a threshold time to access a node, so if that time is exceeded, the ant returns to the source node, only updating the probabilities (reflect how good is that node for a certain path) of the nodes passed to that moment. The nodes not updated are then, in an indirect way, penalized. As to the application of the routing algorithm to a real world problem the possible functions will be: a) a pre-simulation of a network with the purpose of estimate its viability; b) evaluation and management of an existing network detecting and correcting possible anomalies, obtaining a more balanced traffic.