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Reseach Article

Systematic Review of Reinforcement Learning Approaches for Adaptive Multi-Cloud Traffic Engineering

by Vivek Bagmar
International Journal of Computer Applications
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 187 - Number 21
Year of Publication: 2025
Authors: Vivek Bagmar
10.5120/ijca2025925276

Vivek Bagmar . Systematic Review of Reinforcement Learning Approaches for Adaptive Multi-Cloud Traffic Engineering. International Journal of Computer Applications. 187, 21 ( Jul 2025), 43-49. DOI=10.5120/ijca2025925276

@article{ 10.5120/ijca2025925276,
author = { Vivek Bagmar },
title = { Systematic Review of Reinforcement Learning Approaches for Adaptive Multi-Cloud Traffic Engineering },
journal = { International Journal of Computer Applications },
issue_date = { Jul 2025 },
volume = { 187 },
number = { 21 },
month = { Jul },
year = { 2025 },
issn = { 0975-8887 },
pages = { 43-49 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://ijcaonline.org/archives/volume187/number21/systematic-review-of-reinforcement-learning-approaches-for-adaptive-multi-cloud-traffic-engineering/ },
doi = { 10.5120/ijca2025925276 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2025-07-26T00:55:56.428546+05:30
%A Vivek Bagmar
%T Systematic Review of Reinforcement Learning Approaches for Adaptive Multi-Cloud Traffic Engineering
%J International Journal of Computer Applications
%@ 0975-8887
%V 187
%N 21
%P 43-49
%D 2025
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

This systematic review is aimed towards the state-of-the-art reinforcement learning (RL) approaches towards the next-generation multi-cloud traffic engineering, through the existing 15 academic papers from 2021 to 2025. The study performs a critical review of the application of Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARLs), Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (GNNs), and hybrid optimization approaches to transform traffic management on distributed clouds. The review exposes notable advances in large-scale distributed decision-making, flexibility of routing under uncertainty, and cross-domain resource optimization. Despite the positive outcomes, the analysis highlights decades-old questions regarding safety guarantees, heterogenous infrastructure unification, and real-world deployment struggles. The research identifies future research challenges in transfer learning capabilities, explainability demands, and cross-layer optimization. This review aims to synthesize existing knowledge to inform future research on the design of fault-tolerant, efficient, and adaptive traffic engineering techniques for complex multi-cloud systems.

References
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Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

Multi-Cloud Traffic Engineering Reinforcement Learning Multi-Agent Systems Graph Neural Networks Network Optimization Distributed Cloud Infrastructure