(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-04) Andrag, Walter H.; Omlin, Christian W.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Mathematical Sciences. Computer Science.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Routing policies for packet-switched communication networks must be able to adapt
to changing traffic patterns and topologies. We study the feasibility of implementing
an adaptive routing policy using the Q-Learning algorithm which learns sequences of
actions from delayed rewards. The Q-Routing algorithm adapts a network's routing
policy based on local information alone and converges toward an optimal solution. We
demonstrate that Q-Routing is a viable alternative to other adaptive routing methods
such as Bellman-Ford. We also study variations of Q-Routing designed to better explore
possible routes and to take into consideration limited buffer size and optimize multiple
objectives.