Preemptive and delay-based mechanisms to provide preference to emergency traffic

Preemptive and delay-based policies are derived here to provide preferential treatment to emergency users as motivated by the need to respond to natural or man-made disasters. These are applied in circuit switched networks or IP-based networks in conjunction with reservation mechanisms at single links or routers where congestion occurs. A unique optimization formulation is provided where policies are constrained by blocking requirements for emergency traffic, then optimized to provide lowest preemption probabilities. An iterative optimization approach is derived for a multi-dimensional Markov chain to provide an approximate solution for a non-linear integer program. Markov state space concerns are mitigated by introducing and analyzing algorithmic simplifications. Polices are found for hard preemption where sessions are interrupted or soft preemption where session quality is reduced. In addition, delay-based approaches are also examined where emergency users are allowed to wait for network resources if they are first blocked. All of the above approaches are compared with each other and with traditional approaches that hold back resources for emergency traffic. The results demonstrate that in general no approach is superior based on network performance characteristics alone. Qualitative factors must also be considered, most notably the nuisance to non-emergency users from preemption.