On-line and Dynamic Shortest Paths through Graph Decompositions (Preliminary Version)

We describe algorithms for finding shortest paths and distances in a planar digraph which exploit the particular topology of the input graph. We give both sequential and parallel algorithms that work on a dynamic environment, where the cost of any edge can be changed or the edge can be deleted. For outerplanar digraphs, for instance, the data structures can be updated after any such change in only $O(\log n)$ time, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the digraph. The parallel algorithms presented here are the first known ones for solving this problem. Our results can be extended to hold for digraphs of genus $o(n)$

On-line and dynamic algorithms for shortest path problems

We describe algorithms for finding shortest paths and distances in a planar digraph which exploit the particular topology of the input graph. An important feature of our algorithms is that they can work in a dynamic environment, where the cost of any edge can be changed or the edge can be deleted. For outerplanar digraphs, for instance, the data structures can be updated after any such change in only $O(\log n)$ time, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the digraph. We also describe the first parallel algorithms for solving the dynamic version of the shortest path problem. Our results can be extended to hold for digraphs of genus $o(n)$

Clustering of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: An Adaptive Broadcast Period Approach

Organization, scalability and routing have been identified as key problems hindering viability and commercial success of mobile ad hoc networks. Clustering of mobile nodes among separate domains has been proposed as an efficient approach to address those issues. In this work, we introduce an efficient distributed clustering algorithm that uses both location and energy metrics for cluster formation. Our proposed solution mainly addresses cluster stability, manageability and energy efficiency issues. Also, unlike existing active clustering methods, our algorithm relieves the network from the unnecessary burden of control messages broadcasting, especially for relatively static network topologies. This is achieved through adapting broadcast period according to mobile nodes mobility pattern. The efficiency, scalability and competence of our algorithm against alternative approaches have been demonstrated through simulation results.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures; IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2006. ICC '0

Hammock-on-ears decomposition: a technique for the efficient parallel solution of shortest paths and other problems

We show how to decompose efficiently in parallel {\em any} graph into a number, $\tilde{\gamma}$, of outerplanar subgraphs (called {\em hammocks}) satisfying certain separator properties. Our work combines and extends the sequential hammock decomposition technique introduced by G.~Frederickson and the parallel ear decomposition technique, thus we call it the {\em hammock-on-ears decomposition}. We mention that hammock-on-ears decomposition also draws from techniques in computational geometry and that an embedding of the graph does not need to be provided with the input. We achieve this decomposition in $O(\log n\log\log n)$ time using $O(n+m)$ CREW PRAM processors, for an $n$-vertex, $m$-edge graph or digraph. The hammock-on-ears decomposition implies a general framework for solving graph problems efficiently. Its value is demonstrated by a variety of applications on a significant class of (di)graphs, namely that of {\em sparse (di)graphs}. This class consists of all (di)graphs which have a $\tilde{\gamma}$ between $1$ and $\Theta(n)$, and includes planar graphs and graphs with genus $o(n)$. We improve previous bounds for certain instances of shortest paths and related problems, in this class of graphs. These problems include all pairs shortest paths, all pairs reachability

On-Line and Dynamic Shortest Paths Through Graph Decompositions

We describe algorithms for finding shortest paths and distances in a planar digraph which exploit the particular topology of the input graph. An important feature of our algorithms is that they can work in a dynamic environment, where the cost of any edge can be changed or the edge can be deleted. For outerplanar digraphs, for instance, the data structures can be updated after any such change in only $O(\log n)$ time, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the digraph. We also describe the first parallel algorithms for solving the dynamic version of the shortest path problem. Our results can be extended to hold for digraphs of genus $o(n)$

Parallel Max Cut Approximations

Given a graph with positive integer edge weights one may ask whether there exists an edge cut whose weight is bigger than a given number. This problem is NP-complete. We present here an approximation algorithm in NC which provides tight upper bounds to the proportion of edge cuts whose size is bigger than a given number. Our technique is based on the methods to convert randomized parallel algorithms into deterministic ones introduced by Karp and Wigderson. The basic idea of those methods is to replace an exponentially large sample space by one of polynomial size. In this work, we prove the interesting result that the statistical distance of random variables of the small sample space is bigger than the statistical distance of corresponding variables of the exponentially large space, which is the space of all edge cuts taken equiprobably

Quickest Paths: Faster Algorithms and Dynamization

Given a network $N=(V,E,{c},{l})$, where $G=(V,E)$, $|V|=n$ and $|E|=m$, is a directed graph, ${c}(e) \u3e 0$ is the capacity and ${l}(e) \ge 0$ is the lead time (or delay) for each edge $e\in E$, the quickest path problem is to find a path for a given source--destination pair such that the total lead time plus the inverse of the minimum edge capacity of the path is minimal. The problem has applications to fast data transmissions in communication networks. The best previous algorithm for the single--pair quickest path problem runs in time $O(r m+r n \log n)$, where $r$ is the number of distinct capacities of $N$ \cite{ROS}. In this paper, we present algorithms for general, sparse and planar networks that have significantly lower running times. For general networks, we show that the time complexity can be reduced to $O(r^{\ast} m+r^{\ast} n \log n)$, where $r^{\ast}$ is at most the number of capacities greater than the capacity of the shortest (with respect to lead time) path in $N$. For sparse networks, we present an algorithm with time complexity $O(n \log n + r^{\ast} n + r^{\ast} \tilde{\gamma} \log \tilde{\gamma})$, where $\tilde{\gamma}$ is a topological measure of $N$. Since for sparse networks $\tilde{\gamma}$ ranges from $1$ up to $\Theta(n)$, this constitutes an improvement over the previously known bound of $O(r n \log n)$ in all cases that $\tilde{\gamma}=o(n)$. For planar networks, the complexity becomes $O(n \log n + n\log^3 \tilde{\gamma}+ r^{\ast} \tilde{\gamma})$. Similar improvements are obtained for the all--pairs quickest path problem. We also give the first algorithm for solving the dynamic quickest path problem

Efficient Parallel Algorithms for some Tree Layout Problems

The minimum cut and minimum length linear arrangement problems usually occur in solving wiring problems and have a lot in common with job sequencing questions. Both problems are NP-complete for general graphs and in P for trees. We present here two algorithms in NC. The first solves the minimum length linear arrangement problem for unrooted trees in $O(\log^2 n)$ time and $O(n^2 3^{\log n})$ CREW PRAM processors. The second algorithm solves the minimum cut arrangement for unrooted trees of maximum degree $d$ in $O(d \log^2 n)$ time and $O(n^2 /\log n)$ CREW PRAM processors