Abstract
Augmented Infinitesimal Perturbation Analysis (APA) is used for gradient estimation in a hybrid simulation/analytic system for communications network capacity planning, called the ATM Network Design (AND) System.
APA provides an alternative to traditional network planning methods that assume independence of packet service times. A steepest descent algorithm, employing an Armijo line search, determines locally optimal minimum average network delays from the APA estimates under a linear separable capacity constraint.
Written at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago — foundational work in the career that led to building the first coast-to-coast broadband network, recognised by President Bill Clinton.