Allocating bandwidth for bursty connections

The first study of statistical multiplexing is undertaken from the perspective of approximation algorithms. As such, the problem of packing multiple connections together on a link becomes more subtle than in the case when each connection is assumed to have a fixed demand. This paper provides the first approximation algorithms for the load balancing and packing problems with stochastic items. The algorithms make use of effective bandwidth, and the analysis is based on new results showing that it is possible to define a notion of effective bandwidth that can be used to obtain bounds on the value of the optimum.