Manual strategy ignores the valuation The value a buyer or seller places on bandwidth The amount of data transmitted or received per unit of time. When we refer to acquiring or selling bandwidth, we mean the amount of information that can be sent over a connection at one time, at the allowed speed, without packet loss or excessive delay. Bandwidth is measured in bits-per-second. . Setting a valuation is part of setting a purchasing strategy. Valuation settings within a buyer agent let buyers specify the amount they are willing to pay for varying amounts of bandwidth. This information is used by the agent to respond to changing market conditions during a Merkato progressive second price auction. settings completely and allows the user to place bids without a set valuation. Note that these bids are a one-time occurrence and are not submitted automatically in the next auction round. If you wish to place a take-it-or-leave-it bid automatically at each auction round use the Linear valuation and select the automatic strategy.
To place a manual bid, enter the quantity desired in the left hand numerical entry box, and the desired unit price in the right hand numerical entry box (pay close attention to the units displayed so you do not make an error). After you enter both numerical values, click Bid. Your bid is submitted to the Resource The bandwidth service that is offered through a single Merkato marketplace. It will have service attributes, an available quantity earmarked for it by the NSP, and a market mechanism for distributing bandwidth (either the spot market The Merkato mechanism by which bandwidth is traded, in a progressive second price auction. An optimal fair market price is established and bandwidth is allocated to buyers, based on their bids relative to other buyers. or reservation market The Merkato market mechanism by which a specified quantity of bandwidth, for a specific duration, is sold for a firm price specified by the seller and agreed to by the buyer. This is an automated process based on a rate sheet that the seller establishes in advance. ).agent The program that interacts with the rest of Merkato on behalf of buyers and sellers. Buyers can acquire bandwidth by configuring their agents to offer the price they are willing to pay for a range of available quantity, or use their agent to request a quote for a fixed-price bandwidth reservation. Sellers configure their agents with a quantity of bandwidth for sale and a minimum price they are willing to accept for that quantity.. You may observe the results of your bid in the Auction Table or the Auction Graph window.
The initial displayed value in the Manual strategy window is the last bid placed by the Automatic strategy. You may, if you wish, view both the automatic and manual strategy screens simultaneously and quickly activate the manual strategy if you wish to place a bid. If you return to the Automatic strategy, the agent will return to bidding along the original valuation curve according to its standard bidding strategy.