31.4k views
5 votes
theee users are sharing a common link of 1 mb/s. user a is downloading large files and is connected to the common link via a slow access link at x mb/s, user b is connected via a 100 mb/s link, but the application she is using requires of most x mb/s, and finally user c is connected via a 1 gb/s link and is downloading a movie that can take up any amount of bandwidth available to it. what is the max-min fair allocation for these three flows at the common link?

User Singhswat
by
7.5k points

1 Answer

5 votes

Final answer:

For max-min fair allocation of a 1 mb/s common link among three users, all users would get an equal share of 0.333 mb/s if x is less than or equal to 0.333 mb/s. If x is greater than that, fairness cannot be achieved with the given bandwidth constraint, and other allocation methods would need to be considered.

Step-by-step explanation:

When determining the max-min fair allocation for three users sharing a common link of 1 mb/s, we must consider the needs and limitations of each user. A max-min fair allocation looks to optimize the network resources fairly among all users.

User A's maximum limit is dictated by their access link at x mb/s, which means they cannot exceed this rate even if more bandwidth is available. User B requires at most x mb/s for their application, which means they will not use more bandwidth than x mb/s even if more is available. User C, on the other hand, will take as much bandwidth as possible for downloading a movie, with no specified upper limit. Thus, the max-min fair allocation would assign User A and User B x mb/s each, and whatever is left of the 1 mb/s would go to User C.

However, the scenario described implies that there's a combined bandwidth constraint of 1 mb/s for all three users. Therefore, if we assume that x is less than or equal to 0.333 mb/s, each user will get an equal share of the bandwidth, which is 0.333 mb/s, to achieve max-min fairness. If x is more than 0.333 mb/s, then max-min fairness is not achievable as the total required bandwidth would exceed the available bandwidth. In this case, alternative mechanisms for resource allocation might be considered to ensure fair distribution.

User Lunivore
by
8.6k points