False Assumption for Resource Dimensioning in Networking

Speaker:	Prof Victor O.K. Li
		Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
		University of Hong Kong

Topic:		"False Assumption for Resource Dimensioning in
		 Networking"

Date:		Monday, 9 May 2005

Time:		4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Venue:		Lecture Theatre F
		(Leung Yat Sing Lecture Theatre, near lift nos. 25/26)
		HKUST

ABSTRACT:

Due to a false assumption that the number of customers in a stable queue
can be unbounded, some well- known results in networking are incorrect.
Even Erlang's B formula implies one version of the false assumption, i.e.,
at a switch with any finite number of links, it is always possible for an
arriving call to find all of the links simultaneously busy. So Erlang's B
formula is also incorrect. This talk presents a detailed elucidation based
on a simple thought experiment. To design more efficient, cost-effective
networks with better services, the false assumption should be abandoned.

*Joint work with Dr. G.L. Li


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Biography:

Victor O.K. Li (http://www.eee.hku.hk/staff_personal/vli.htm) was born in
Hong Kong in 1954. He received SB, SM, EE and ScD degrees in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1981,
respectively. He joined the University of Southern California (USC), Los
Angeles, California, USA in February 1981, and became Professor of
Electrical Engineering and Director of the USC Communication Sciences
Institute. Since September 1997 he has been with the University of Hong
Kong, Hong Kong, where he is Chair Professor of Information Engineering.
He also served as Managing Director of Versitech Ltd. (http://
http://www.versitech.com.hk/), the technology transfer and commercial arm
of the University, from September 1997 to June 2004. Prof. Li serves on
various corporate boards. His research is in information technology,
including all- optical networks, wireless networks, and Internet
technologies and applications. Sought by government, industry, and
academic organizations, he has lectured and consulted extensively around
the world. Prof. Li is very active in the research community, and has
chaired various international conferences and served on the editorial
boards of various international journals. He has given distinguished
lectures at universities around the world, and keynote speeches at many
international conferences. Prof. Li has received numerous awards,
including, most recently, the UK Royal Academy of Engineering Senior
Visiting Fellowship in Communications, the KC Wong Education Foundation
Lectureship, the Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowship, and the
Bronze Bauhinia Star, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, China. He was elected an IEEE Fellow in 1992.