Resource Allocation in One-Dimensional Distributed Service Networks

We consider assignment policies that allocate resources to users, where both resources and users are located on a one-dimensional line (0, ∞). First, we consider unidirectional assignment policies that allocate resources only to users located to their left. We propose the Move to Right (MTR) policy, which scans from left to right assigning the nearest available resource located to the right of a user, and contrast it to the Unidirectional Gale-Shapley (UGS) matching policy. While both policies among all unidirectional policies, minimize the expected distance traveled by a request, MTR is fairer. Moreover, we show that when user and resource locations are modeled by statistical point processes, and resources are allowed to satisfy more than one user, the spatial system under unidirectional policies can be mapped into bulk service queueing systems, thus allowing the application of many queueing theory results that yield closed form expressions. As we consider a case where different resources can satisfy different numbers of users, we also generate new results for bulk service queues. We also consider bidirectional policies where there are no directional restrictions on resource allocation and develop an algorithm for computing the optimal assignment which is more efficient than known algorithms in the literature when there are more resources than users. Finally, numerical evaluation of performance of unidirectional and bidirectional allocation schemes yields design guidelines beneficial for resource placement.