Optimizing Restoration Capacity in the AT&T Network

Ken Ambs, Sebastian Cwilich, Mei Deng, David J. Houck, David F. Lynch and Dicky Yan
Additional contact information
Ken Ambs: AT&T Network Services, 900 Route 202/206 North, Bedminster, New Jersey 07921
Sebastian Cwilich: AT&T Labs, 200 Laurel Avenue, Middletown, New Jersey 07748
Mei Deng: AT&T Labs
David J. Houck: Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, 101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, New Jersey 07733
David F. Lynch: AT&T Labs
Dicky Yan: AT&T Network Services

Interfaces, 2000, vol. 30, issue 1, 26-44

Abstract: To ensure high network reliability, AT&T employs two basic approaches: preventing failures and responding quickly when failures occur. For AT&T to quickly reroute traffic in the event of a network failure, the network must contain sufficient restoration capacity to carry the displaced demand. A team of AT&T OR experts, network planners, and managers developed a method for determining the appropriate quantity and location of restoration capacity required to restore the demand during any single link failure. The approach centers on a linear programming model to minimize the cost of the restoration network and uses column generation to generate new restoration paths as needed. In about 10 months, the team converted the methodology into a tool to optimize the allocation of restoration capacity. This tool was then extended to plan for the recovery of a switching-center disaster and to reoptimize the entire restoration network. It has contributed to AT&T's achieving high-quality service, while saving valuable resources. It resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings and increased revenues.

Keywords: INDUSTRIES-COMMUNICATIONS; PROGRAMMING-LINEAR-LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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