An Axiomatic Theory of Fairness in Network Resource Allocation

We present five axioms for fairness measures in resource allocation. A family of fairness measures satisfying the axioms is constructed. Special cases of this family include α-fairness, Jain's index, and entropy. Properties of fairness measures satisfying the axioms are proven, including Schur-concavity. Among the engineering implications is a generalized Jain's index that tunes the resolution of fairness measure, a new understanding of α-fair utility functions, and an interpretation of ``larger α is more fair''. We also construct an alternative set of axioms to capture system efficiency and feasibility constraints.

• Publication year

  2009

• Venue

  2010 Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM

• Publication date

  2009-06-02

• Fields of study

  Computer Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1109/INFCOM.2010.5461911arXiv 0906.0557
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• An information-theoretic characterization of weighted α-proportional fairness in network resource allocation

  2011cited by this paper
• An Information-Theoretic Characterization of Weighted alpha-Proportional Fairness

  2009cited by this paper
• Understanding Fairness and its Impact on Quality of Service in IEEE 802.11

  2008cited by this paper
• Counter-intuitive throughput behaviors in networks under end-to-end control

  2006cited by this paper
• A new fairness index for radio resource allocation in wireless networks

  2005cited by this paper
• Using approximate majorization to characterize protocol fairness

  2001cited by this paper
• Impact of fairness on Internet performance

  2001cited by this paper
• An Analysis of Short-Term Fairness in Wireless Media Access Protocols

  2000cited by this paper
• An analysis of short-term fairness in wireless media access protocols (poster session)

  2000cited by this paper
• Axiomatic Characterization of the Gini Coefficient and Lorenz Curve Orderings

  2000cited by this paper
• Bandwidth sharing: objectives and algorithms

  1999cited by this paper
• Fair end-to-end window-based congestion control

  1998cited by this paper
• Rate control for communication networks: shadow prices, proportional fairness and stability

  1998cited by this paper
• A Quantitative Measure Of Fairness And Discrimination For Resource Allocation In Shared Computer Systems

  1998cited by this paper
• Axioms of Cooperative Decision Making.

  1990cited by this paper
• A Value for n-person Games

  1988cited by this paper
• A Study of Fairness in Packet-Switching Networks

  1982cited by this paper
• A Theory of Justice

  1971cited by this paper
• On the Distribution Function of Additive Functions

  1946cited by this paper

• Revisiting Online Learning Meta-Algorithm From the Perspective of Weighted Alpha-Fair Allocation

  2026influential citation
• Fairness-Aware Federated Recommender Design With Heterogeneous Privacy Budgets

  2026influential citation
• Learning to Flow (Between Datacenters)

  2026cites this paper
• The Limits of "Fairness" of the Variational Generalized Nash Equilibrium

  2025cites this paper
• Enabling Coexistence: Dynamic Channel Allocation for Scalable LEO-GEO Networks

  2025cites this paper
• Understanding Accuracy-Fairness Trade-offs in Re-ranking through Elasticity in Economics

  2025cites this paper
• Federated learning with empirical insights: Leveraging gradient historical experiences for performance fairness

  2025cites this paper
• DISPATCH - Decentralized Informed Spatial Planning and Assignment of Tasks for Cooperative Heterogeneous Agents

  2025cites this paper
• Achieving Distributive Justice in Federated Learning via Uncertainty Quantification

  2025cites this paper
• Fairness in energy communities: Centralized and decentralized frameworks

  2025cites this paper
• Automatic Link Selection in Multi-Channel Multiple Access with Link Failures

  2025cites this paper
• Data Oriented Fairness in Cross-Silo Federated Learning

  2025cites this paper
• A Framework for Stochastic Fairness in Dominant Resource Allocation with Cloud Computing Applications

  2025cites this paper
• Joint Optimization of User Association and Resource Allocation for Load Balancing With Multi-Level Fairness

  2025cites this paper
• Bandwidth-Constrained Sensor Scheduling: A Trade-off between Fairness and Efficiency

  2025influential citation
• On the Role of Channel Gain Weighting for Fairness in Cell-Free MIMO

  2025cites this paper
• A Fair Federated Learning Framework for Collaborative Network Traffic Prediction and Resource Allocation

  2025cites this paper
• Risk-Based Multi-Objective Approach for Improving Fairness of PV Curtailment in Low-Voltage Distribution Networks

  2025cites this paper
• Beyond Entanglement Routing: Source Assignment and All-Optical Switching-Based Distribution

  2025cites this paper
• Reinforcement Learning-Driven UC-CFmMIMO for UAVs: A Subband Allocation Framework

  2025cites this paper
• Channel Cycle Time: A New Measure of Short-Term Fairness

  2025cites this paper
• Adaptive Algorithms for Automatic Link Selection in Multiple Access with Link Failures

  2025cites this paper
• Invariant Price of Anarchy: a Metric for Welfarist Traffic Control

  2025cites this paper
• FedShard: Federated Unlearning with Efficiency Fairness and Performance Fairness

  2025cites this paper
• Building Socially-Equitable Public Models

  2024cites this paper
• Collective Asset Sharing Mechanisms for PV and BESS in Renewable Energy Communities

  2024cites this paper
• Ad Auctions for LLMs via Retrieval Augmented Generation

  2024cites this paper
• Impact of Sensing Errors on Headway Design: From <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mi>α</mml:mi></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="shao-ieq1-3389987.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>-Fair Group Safety to Traffic Throughput

  2024cites this paper
• Assessing Group Fairness with Social Welfare Optimization

  2024cites this paper
• Noise-Aware and Equitable Urban Air Traffic Management: An Optimization Approach

  2024cites this paper
• Mitigating Disparate Impact of Differential Privacy in Federated Learning through Robust Clustering

  2024cites this paper
• Differentially Private Clustered Federated Learning

  2024cites this paper
• A Taxation Perspective for Fair Re-ranking

  2024cites this paper
• DPBalance: Efficient and Fair Privacy Budget Scheduling for Federated Learning as a Service

  2024cites this paper
• An Asynchronous Transport Protocol for Quantum Data Networks

  2024cites this paper
• A Dynamic Weight Optimization Strategy Based on Momentum Method

  2024cites this paper
• Balancing Fairness and Efficiency in Energy Resource Allocations

  2024cites this paper
• Fairness by design in shared-energy allocation problems

  2024cites this paper
• Fair Resource Allocation in Multi-Task Learning

  2024cites this paper
• Percentile Optimization in Wireless Networks—Part I: Power Control for Max-Min-Rate to Sum-Rate Maximization (and Everything in Between)

  2024cites this paper
• Fair Concurrent Training of Multiple Models in Federated Learning

  2024cites this paper
• Semi-Variance Reduction for Fair Federated Learning

  2024cites this paper
• Multiagent RL-Based Joint Trajectory Scheduling and Resource Allocation in NOMA-Assisted UAV Swarm Network

  2024cites this paper
• Keep Everyone Happy: Online Fair Division of Numerous Items with Few Copies

  2024cites this paper
• Fair-enough Charging of Electric Vehicles

  2024cites this paper
• Hardware-Sensitive Fairness in Heterogeneous Federated Learning

  2024cites this paper
• Balancing Efficiency and Fairness in Resource Allocation for Optical Networks

  2024cites this paper
• Structured Reinforcement Learning for Delay-Optimal Data Transmission in Dense mmWave Networks

  2024cites this paper
• Achieving Fairness in Multi-Agent MDP Using Reinforcement Learning

  2024cites this paper
• EPS Placement and Lightweight Entanglement Routing for Quantum Data Networks

  2024cites this paper
• Analysis of Fairness-promoting Optimization Schemes of Photovoltaic Curtailments for Voltage Regulation in Power Distribution Networks

  2024cites this paper
• Bidding and Dispatch Strategies with Flexibility Quantification and Pricing for Electric Vehicle Aggregator in Joint Energy-Regulation Market

  2024cites this paper
• Achieving Fairness in Multi-Agent Markov Decision Processes Using Reinforcement Learning

  2023cites this paper
• Privacy and Fairness in Federated Learning: On the Perspective of Tradeoff

  2023cites this paper
• Poster Abstract: Fair Training of Multiple Federated Learning Models on Resource Constrained Network Devices

  2023cites this paper
• Reinforcement Learning Based Coexistence in Mixed 802.11ax and Legacy WLANs

  2023cites this paper
• PopSim: An Individual-level Population Simulator for Equitable Allocation of City Resources

  2023cites this paper
• A Bayesian Approach to the Design of Backhauling Topology for 5G IAB Networks

  2023cites this paper
• EDI-Driven Multi-Dimensional Resource Allocation for Inclusive 6G Communications

  2023cites this paper
• Channel Cycle Time: A New Measure of Short-Term Fairness

  2023cites this paper
• Mode Selection and Resource Allocation for D2D Communications With Tradeoff of Throughput and User Satisfaction

  2023cites this paper
• Distributed Transport Protocols for Quantum Data Networks

  2023cites this paper
• A Unified Framework for Analyzing and Optimizing a Class of Convex Inequity Measures

  2023influential citation
• CANE: A Cascade Control Approach for Network-Assisted Video QoE Management

  2023cites this paper
• A Reinforcement Learning Framework for Vehicular Network Routing Under Peak and Average Constraints

  2023cites this paper
• An application-oriented scheduler

  2023cites this paper
• Safe Pricing Mechanisms for Distributed Resource Allocation With Bandit Feedback

  2023cites this paper
• No-regret Algorithms for Fair Resource Allocation

  2023cites this paper
• Fairness in Distributed Sensor Systems to Detect Emitters

  2023cites this paper
• On user fairness of uplink rate splitting multiple access with randomly deployed users

  2023cites this paper
• On efficiency and the Jain’s fairness index in integer assignment problems

  2023cites this paper
• Achieving E � iciency via Fairness in Online Resource Allocation

  2023influential citation
• $\alpha$-Fair Contextual Bandits

  2023cites this paper
• Pool testing with dilution effects and heterogeneous priors

  2023cites this paper
• A guide to formulating fairness in an optimization model

  2023cites this paper
• Distributed Scheduling With Centralized Coordination for Scalable Wireless Mesh Networking

  2023cites this paper
• Multi-Cell Over-the-Air Computation Systems With Spectrum Sharing: A Perspective From $\alpha$-Fairness

  2023cites this paper
• Integrating All-optical Switching and Entangled Photon Source Placement for Entanglement Routing

  2023cites this paper
• Measuring and Mitigating Group Inequalities In Resource Allocation

  2023cites this paper
• Mixed-Variable PSO with Fairness on Multi-Objective Field Data Replication in Wireless Networks

  2023cites this paper
• Fairness in Maximal Covering Facility Location Problems

  2022influential citation
• Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning with Non-Linear Scalarization

  2022cites this paper
• Analysis of Opportunistic Relaying and Load Balancing Gains through V2V Clustering

  2022cites this paper
• Spatio-Temporal Resource Meshes for Serverless Computing

  2022cites this paper
• Equality Is Not Equity: Proportional Fairness in Federated Learning

  2022cites this paper
• α-Fairness-Maximizing User Association in Energy-Constrained Small Cell Networks

  2022cites this paper
• Selective Edge Computing for Mobile Analytics

  2022cites this paper
• VaxEquity: A Data-Driven Risk Assessment and Optimization Framework for Equitable Vaccine Distribution

  2022cites this paper
• Learning Resilient Radio Resource Management Policies With Graph Neural Networks

  2022cites this paper
• Learning-Based Online QoE Optimization in Multi-Agent Video Streaming

  2022cites this paper
• Completely Uncoupled Utility Maximization Algorithms for State Dependent Networks

  2022cites this paper
• On the Building Blocks of Sparsity Measures

  2022cites this paper
• Convex Fairness Measures: Theory and Optimization

  2022cites this paper
• Learning-Assisted Algorithm Unrolling for Online Optimization with Budget Constraints

  2022cites this paper
• Fairness in Contextual Resource Allocation Systems: Metrics and Incompatibility Results

  2022cites this paper
• Fairness in maximal covering location problems

  2022influential citation
• Extended efficiency and soft-fairness multiresource allocation in a cloud computing system

  2022cites this paper
• Achieving efficiency via fairness in online resource allocation

  2022influential citation
• Polynomial-time assignment-based cell association with generic utility functions

  2022cites this paper
• Optimal Joint Power and Rate Adaptation for Awareness and Congestion Control in Vehicular Networks

  2022cites this paper