[Tccc] PhD position at EURECOM on "Robust pricing of cloud resources through mean-field games"
Patrick Loiseau
patrick.loiseau
Thu Jul 5 21:46:42 EDT 2012
Please find below the description of an open PhD position at EURECOM in
computer science/applied mathematics, in the area of game theory and
network economics.
**** Title:
Robust pricing of cloud resources through mean-field games
**** Keywords:
Game theory; network economics; pricing; cloud computing; mean-field games
**** Descritption:
Cloud computing has now become the main paradigm for computing, storage
and many other applications, for both companies and individuals. An
appropriate pricing schemes for cloud resources is therefore of great
importance for cloud providers to maximize their revenue. Currently,
cloud providers mostly use a fixed usage-based pricing, sometimes in
association with a spot market to sell remaining resources through
auctions. However, preliminary studies have shown that this pricing
scheme may not be optimal [1]. This leaves open the crucial question of
how to optimally price cloud resources.
One of the main difficulties in designing a good pricing scheme is that
optimizing the scheme?s parameters generally requires knowledge of the
variation of user demand with prices. Such information is very hard to
estimate. Therefore, a key aspect of the designed pricing scheme
considered in this PhD will be its robustness to mis-estimation of the
users reaction to prices. To design a robust pricing scheme, a possible
source of inspiration will be the concept of probabilistic pricing,
recently proposed in [2,3], which was shown to exhibit interesting
robustness properties in a different context.
The overall goal of the PhD work will be to design a good pricing
mechanism for cloud resources and to analytically assess its performance
using a game-theoretic model. The student will elaborate a model using
the mean-field game method [4,5], which leverages the large number of
users to simplify the analysis. He/she will study the performance of the
designed pricing scheme (and compare it to other schemes) under various
scenarios: in stationary situation, with external dynamics, with
iterative learning algorithms, etc. Although the main case study will be
cloud computing, the PhD work is expected to bring general results on
the design of robust pricing schemes for a shared resource in a dynamic
environment with many users.
Opportunities of collaboration with Sup?lec may be available during the PhD.
[1] ?Fixed and Market Pricing for Cloud Services?, V. Abhishek, I. A.
Kash and P. Key, in Proceedings of Netecon ?12.
[2] ?Incentive Schemes for Internet Congestion Management: Raffles
versus Time-of-Day Pricing?, P. Loiseau, G. Schwartz, J. Musacchio and
S. Amin, in Proceedings of Allerton ?11
[3] ?Congestion Pricing Using a Raffle-Based Scheme?, P. Loiseau, G.
Schwartz, J. Musacchio, S. Amin, S. S. Sastry, in Proceedings of
Netgcoop ?11
[4] ?Mean field games?, J.-M. Lasry, P.-L. Lions, Jpn. J. Math. 2(1),
229?260 (2007).
[5] ?Mean field stochastic games?, H. Tembine, tutorial given at
Sup?lec, 2012. Short version available as arXiv:1111.2285.
**** Candidate profile:
- The candidate should hold (or be about to obtain) a Master degree (or
equivalent), in applied mathematics, computer science, electrical
engineering or a related field.
- The successful candidate should have a good mathematical background in
probability/stochastic processes, optimization and/or game theory; and a
strong interest in doing theoretical work in these areas.
- Knowledge in one or several of the following areas would be a plus:
network economics, cloud computing, advanced probability, asymptotic
analysis (e.g., mean-field).
**** Practical information:
- The position is funded by a ?Futur&Ruptures? grant from Institut-Mines
Telecom.
- The successful candidate will work as a PhD student in the "Networking
and Security" department of EURECOM, under supervision of Prof. Patrick
Loiseau. He/She will be affiliated with the EDITE doctoral school.
- The working language is English (knowledge of French is not required).
- Starting date: Fall 2012 -- Duration: 3 years.
- Competitive salary and benefits packages (including medical insurance)
are offered for the duration of the PhD.
**** Application procedure:
To apply or to obtain any further information, please contact directly
Prof. Patrick Loiseau (patrick.loiseau at eurecom.fr). Your application
email should include:
- A short motivation statement explaining why you would like to do a PhD
and your relevant past experience (e.g., projects or internships on
topics related to the PhD).
- A detailed CV and a complete transcript record of master grades
(preferably include transcript record of bachelor/undergraduate grades
too).
- The name of two persons (preferably professors or researchers with
whom you have interacted) who are willing to provide a reference letter
for your application.
The position is open until filled. To ensure full consideration of the
application, interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as
possible.
See http://www.eurecom.fr/~loiseau/open_positions.html for more
information and for a PDF version.
--
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Patrick Loiseau
Assistant Professor, Networking and Security
EURECOM, Sophia-Antipolis, France
Web: http://www.eurecom.fr/~loiseau/
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