The Fairness and Utility of Pricing Network Resources Using Competitive Markets
Errin W. Fulp and Douglas S. Reeves
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\section{Introduction}
Abstract

Current and future networks must accommodate a wide variety of
network applications. These applications require a Quality of
Service (QoS) which can be provided through proper network
resource allocation.  Due to the
finite amount of resources, contention frequently occurs in
networks. For this reason, a method to manage these limited
resources in a fair and efficient manner is needed. Recently,
pricing has been promoted as a method for allocating network
resources. 

In this paper, we introduce a network resource pricing technique
based on the competitive market model. Referred to as the ``spot
market approach,'' the economic model consists of multiple dynamic
competitive markets (spot markets) working asynchronously and
independently. This allocation approach has all the advantages of
other microeconomic-based methods; however, the spot market
approach allows and encourages network dynamics to occur. In
addition, the allocation method is practical to implement, has no
limiting assumptions, and is able to achieve multiple types of
fairness.  Experimental results show that the spot market can 
quickly achieve fair allocations under realistic conditions.