  In the Multi-Level Aggregation Problem (MLAP), requests arrive at the nodes
of an edge-weighted tree T, and have to be served eventually. A service is
defined as a subtree X of T that contains its root. This subtree X serves all
requests that are pending in the nodes of X, and the cost of this service is
equal to the total weight of X. Each request also incurs waiting cost between
its arrival and service times. The objective is to minimize the total waiting
cost of all requests plus the total cost of all service subtrees. MLAP is a
generalization of some well-studied optimization problems; for example, for
trees of depth 1, MLAP is equivalent to the TCP Acknowledgment Problem, while
for trees of depth 2, it is equivalent to the Joint Replenishment Problem.
Aggregation problem for trees of arbitrary depth arise in multicasting, sensor
networks, communication in organization hierarchies, and in supply-chain
management. The instances of MLAP associated with these applications are
naturally online, in the sense that aggregation decisions need to be made
without information about future requests.
  Constant-competitive online algorithms are known for MLAP with one or two
levels. However, it has been open whether there exist constant competitive
online algorithms for trees of depth more than 2. Addressing this open problem,
we give the first constant competitive online algorithm for networks of
arbitrary (fixed) number of levels. The competitive ratio is O(D^4 2^D), where
D is the depth of T. The algorithm works for arbitrary waiting cost functions,
including the variant with deadlines.
  We also show several additional lower and upper bound results for some
special cases of MLAP, including the Single-Phase variant and the case when the
tree is a path.
