A simheuristic algorithm for video streaming flows optimisation with QoS threshold modelled as a stochastic single-allocation p-hub median problem

Modern telecommunication networks are comprised of a countless number of nodes exchanging data among them. In particular, multimedia traffic – composed of audio, video, and images – represents a challenging scenario requiring link optimisation techniques. The hub-and-spoke topology is frequently used to design more effective telecommunication networks. This work considers a hub-and-spoke network in which a large number of nodes are exchanging real-time multimedia data, and where the quantity of data sent from one node to another is a random variable. Given a fixed number of hubs, $$p$$p, the goal is to select the best location for these $$p$$p hubs in order to minimise the total expected cost of transmission. This scenario is modelled as an uncapacitated single-allocation $$p$$p-hub median problem under uncertainty conditions. Additionally, with the purpose of considering the effect of transmission delays on the video signal, service quality thresholds are assigned to every potential hub in the network. Since real-life networks tend to be large in size, we propose a simheuristic algorithm to cope with this stochastic and large-scale optimisation problem. A series of computational experiments illustrate these concepts and allow for testing the performance of our simheuristic approach. Finally, a statistical analysis of the obtained results is provided.