Noisy Sorting Without Searching: Data Oblivious Sorting with Comparison Errors

We provide and study several algorithms for sorting an array of n comparable distinct elements subject to probabilistic comparison errors. In this model, the comparison of two elements returns the wrong answer according to a fixed probability, p_e < 1/2, and otherwise returns the correct answer. The dislocation of an element is the distance between its position in a given (current or output) array and its position in a sorted array. There are various algorithms that can be utilized for sorting or near-sorting elements subject to probabilistic comparison errors, but these algorithms are not data oblivious because they all make heavy use of noisy binary searching. In this paper, we provide new methods for sorting with comparison errors that are data oblivious while avoiding the use of noisy binary search methods. In addition, we experimentally compare our algorithms and other sorting algorithms

Reconstructing Biological and Digital Phylogenetic Trees in Parallel

In this paper, we study the parallel query complexity of reconstructing biological and digital phylogenetic trees from simple queries involving their nodes. This is motivated from computational biology, data protection, and computer security settings, which can be abstracted in terms of two parties, a responder, Alice, who must correctly answer queries of a given type regarding a degree-d tree, T, and a querier, Bob, who issues batches of queries, with each query in a batch being independent of the others, so as to eventually infer the structure of T. We show that a querier can efficiently reconstruct an n-node degree-d tree, T, with a logarithmic number of rounds and quasilinear number of queries, with high probability, for various types of queries, including relative-distance queries and path queries. Our results are all asymptotically optimal and improve the asymptotic (sequential) query complexity for one of the problems we study. Moreover, through an experimental analysis using both real-world and synthetic data, we provide empirical evidence that our algorithms provide significant parallel speedups while also improving the total query complexities for the problems we study

Mapping Networks via Parallel kth-Hop Traceroute Queries

?(v,w), which return the name of the kth vertex on a shortest path from v to w, where ?(v,w) is the distance between v and w, that is, the number of edges in a shortest-path from v to w. The traceroute command is often used for network mapping applications, the study of the connectivity of networks, and it has been studied theoretically with respect to biases it introduces for network mapping when only a subset of nodes in the network can be the source of traceroute queries. In this paper, we provide efficient network mapping algorithms, that are based on kth-hop traceroute queries. Our results include an algorithm that runs in a constant number of parallel rounds with a subquadratic number of queries under reasonable assumptions about the sampling coverage of the nodes that may issue kth-hop traceroute queries. In addition, we introduce a number of new algorithmic techniques, including a high-probability parametric parallelization of a graph clustering technique of Thorup and Zwick, which may be of independent interest

Efficient Exact Learning Algorithms for Road Networks and Other Graphs with Bounded Clustering Degrees

The completeness of road network data is significant in the quality of various routing services and applications. We introduce an efficient randomized algorithm for exact learning of road networks using simple distance queries, which can find missing roads and improve the quality of routing services. The efficiency of our algorithm depends on a cluster degree parameter, d_max, which is an upper bound on the degrees of vertex clusters defined during our algorithm. Unfortunately, we leave open the problem of theoretically bounding d_max, although we conjecture that d_max is small for road networks and other similar types of graphs. We support this conjecture by experimentally evaluating our algorithm on road network data for the U.S. and 5 European countries of various sizes. This analysis provides experimental evidence that our algorithm issues a quasilinear number of queries in expectation for road networks and similar graphs

Optimization of Integrated Design of Wastewater Treatment and Sanitary Sewer Network Using Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

In this paper a heuristic method with ad-hoc engineering concept is proposed for design optimization of integrated wastewater treatment and sanitary sewer network using ant colony optimization algorithm. The optimal design of integrated wastewater treatment and sewer network requires that the wastewater treatment location, layout and size of sewer network are optimally determined. The problem of finding the optimal design of integrated wastewater treatment and sanitary sewer network is an expensive task that should be formulated as an optimization problem if an optimal least cost design is required. This problem is a highly constrained Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) problem presenting a challenge even to conventional methods. In this paper an efficient heuristic method with ad-hoc engineering concept using ant colony optimization algorithm is proposed and used to solve hypothetical test example and the results are presented and compared with those of obtained with using genetic algorithm.  The results indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method to optimally solve the problem of optimal design of integrated wastewater treatment and sewer network