Distributed Multi-resource Allocation with Little Communication Overhead

TL;DR

This paper introduces a distributed multi-resource allocation algorithm that minimizes communication by using probabilistic responses to a one-bit control signal, effectively converging to optimal allocations without agents knowing others' states.

Contribution

It extends the AIMD algorithm to multi-resource and binary resource scenarios, enabling efficient, low-communication distributed allocation.

Findings

Average allocations converge to optimal over time

Algorithm works for both divisible and indivisible resources

Minimal communication required for convergence

Abstract

We propose a distributed algorithm to solve a special distributed multi-resource allocation problem with no direct inter-agent communication. We do so by extending a recently introduced additive-increase multiplicative-decrease (AIMD) algorithm, which only uses very little communication between the system and agents. Namely, a control unit broadcasts a one-bit signal to agents whenever one of the allocated resources exceeds capacity. Agents then respond to this signal in a probabilistic manner. In the proposed algorithm, each agent is unaware of the resource allocation of other agents. We also propose a version of the AIMD algorithm for multiple binary resources (e.g., parking spaces). Binary resources are indivisible unit-demand resources, and each agent either allocated one unit of the resource or none. In empirical results, we observe that in both cases, the average allocations converge over time to optimal allocations.