Covering point sets with two disjoint disks or squares

Open archive-ElsevierWe study the following problem: Given a set of red points and a set of blue points on the plane, find two unit disks CR and CB with disjoint interiors such that the number of red points covered by CR plus the number of blue points covered by CB is maximized. We give an algorithm to solve this problem in O(n8/3 log2 n) time, where n denotes the total number of points. We also show that the analogous problem of finding two axis-aligned unit squares SR and SB instead of unit disks can be solved in O(nlog n) time, which is optimal. If we do not restrict ourselves to axis-aligned squares, but require that both squares have a common orientation, we give a solution using O(n3 log n) time

Witness (Delaunay) Graphs

Proximity graphs are used in several areas in which a neighborliness relationship for input data sets is a useful tool in their analysis, and have also received substantial attention from the graph drawing community, as they are a natural way of implicitly representing graphs. However, as a tool for graph representation, proximity graphs have some limitations that may be overcome with suitable generalizations. We introduce a generalization, witness graphs, that encompasses both the goal of more power and flexibility for graph drawing issues and a wider spectrum for neighborhood analysis. We study in detail two concrete examples, both related to Delaunay graphs, and consider as well some problems on stabbing geometric objects and point set discrimination, that can be naturally described in terms of witness graphs.Comment: 27 pages. JCCGG 200

Constant-Factor Approximation for TSP with Disks

We revisit the traveling salesman problem with neighborhoods (TSPN) and present the first constant-ratio approximation for disks in the plane: Given a set of $n$ disks in the plane, a TSP tour whose length is at most $O(1)$ times the optimal can be computed in time that is polynomial in $n$. Our result is the first constant-ratio approximation for a class of planar convex bodies of arbitrary size and arbitrary intersections. In order to achieve a $O(1)$-approximation, we reduce the traveling salesman problem with disks, up to constant factors, to a minimum weight hitting set problem in a geometric hypergraph. The connection between TSPN and hitting sets in geometric hypergraphs, established here, is likely to have future applications.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Minimum-Cost Coverage of Point Sets by Disks

We consider a class of geometric facility location problems in which the goal is to determine a set X of disks given by their centers (t_j) and radii (r_j) that cover a given set of demand points Y in the plane at the smallest possible cost. We consider cost functions of the form sum_j f(r_j), where f(r)=r^alpha is the cost of transmission to radius r. Special cases arise for alpha=1 (sum of radii) and alpha=2 (total area); power consumption models in wireless network design often use an exponent alpha>2. Different scenarios arise according to possible restrictions on the transmission centers t_j, which may be constrained to belong to a given discrete set or to lie on a line, etc. We obtain several new results, including (a) exact and approximation algorithms for selecting transmission points t_j on a given line in order to cover demand points Y in the plane; (b) approximation algorithms (and an algebraic intractability result) for selecting an optimal line on which to place transmission points to cover Y; (c) a proof of NP-hardness for a discrete set of transmission points in the plane and any fixed alpha>1; and (d) a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the problem of computing a minimum cost covering tour (MCCT), in which the total cost is a linear combination of the transmission cost for the set of disks and the length of a tour/path that connects the centers of the disks.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Latex, to appear in ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry 200

The Homogeneous Broadcast Problem in Narrow and Wide Strips

Let $P$ be a set of nodes in a wireless network, where each node is modeled as a point in the plane, and let $s\in P$ be a given source node. Each node $p$ can transmit information to all other nodes within unit distance, provided $p$ is activated. The (homogeneous) broadcast problem is to activate a minimum number of nodes such that in the resulting directed communication graph, the source $s$ can reach any other node. We study the complexity of the regular and the hop-bounded version of the problem (in the latter, $s$ must be able to reach every node within a specified number of hops), with the restriction that all points lie inside a strip of width $w$. We almost completely characterize the complexity of both the regular and the hop-bounded versions as a function of the strip width $w$.Comment: 50 pages, WADS 2017 submissio