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Approximability of Unsplittable Shortest Path Routing Problems

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-8968
  • In this paper, we discuss the relation of unsplittable shortest path routing (USPR) to other routing schemes and study the approximability of three USPR network planning problems. Given a digraph $D=(V,A)$ and a set $K$ of directed commodities, an USPR is a set of flow paths $\Phi_{(s,t)}$, $(s,t)\in K$, such that there exists a metric $\lambda=(\lambda_a)\in \mathbb{Z}^A_+$ with respect to which each $\Phi_{(s,t)}$ is the unique shortest $(s,t)$-path. In the \textsc{Min-Con-USPR} problem, we seek for an USPR that minimizes the maximum congestion over all arcs. We show that this problem is hard to approximate within a factor of $\mathcal{O}(|V|^{1-\epsilon})$, but easily approximable within min$(|A|,|K|)$ in general and within $\mathcal{O}(1)$ if the underlying graph is an undirected cycle or a bidirected ring. We also construct examples where the minimum congestion that can be obtained by USPR is a factor of $\Omega(|V|^2)$ larger than that achievable by unsplittable flow routing or by shortest multi-path routing, and a factor of $\Omega(|V|)$ larger than by unsplittable source-invariant routing. In the CAP-USPR problem, we seek for a minimum cost installation of integer arc capacities that admit an USPR of the given commodities. We prove that this problem is $\mathcal{NP}$-hard to approximate within $2-\epsilon$ (even in the undirected case), and we devise approximation algorithms for various special cases. The fixed charge network design problem \textsc{Cap-USPR}, where the task is to find a minimum cost subgraph of $D$ whose fixed arc capacities admit an USPR of the commodities, is shown to be $\mathcal{NPO}$-complete. All three problems are of great practical interest in the planning of telecommunication networks that are based on shortest path routing protocols. Our results indicate that they are harder than the corresponding unsplittable flow or shortest multi-path routing problems.

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Metadaten
Author:Andreas Bley
Document Type:ZIB-Report
Tag:Shortest path routing; approximation; computational complexity; unsplittable flow
MSC-Classification:05-XX COMBINATORICS (For finite fields, see 11Txx) / 05Cxx Graph theory (For applications of graphs, see 68R10, 81Q30, 81T15, 82B20, 82C20, 90C35, 92E10, 94C15) / 05C38 Paths and cycles [See also 90B10]
68-XX COMPUTER SCIENCE (For papers involving machine computations and programs in a specific mathematical area, see Section -04 in that area) / 68Qxx Theory of computing / 68Q25 Analysis of algorithms and problem complexity [See also 68W40]
90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Bxx Operations research and management science / 90B18 Communication networks [See also 68M10, 94A05]
90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Cxx Mathematical programming [See also 49Mxx, 65Kxx] / 90C27 Combinatorial optimization
90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Cxx Mathematical programming [See also 49Mxx, 65Kxx] / 90C60 Abstract computational complexity for mathematical programming problems [See also 68Q25]
Date of first Publication:2006/01/25
Series (Serial Number):ZIB-Report (06-02)
ZIB-Reportnumber:06-02
Published in:A slightly modified version appeared in: Networks 54 (2009) 23-46
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