Exact and Approximation Algorithms for Routing a Convoy Through a Graph

Martijn van Ee, Tim Oosterwijk, René Sitters, Andreas Wiese

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

We study routing problems of a convoy in a graph, generalizing the shortest path problem (SPP), the travelling salesperson problem (TSP), and the Chinese postman problem (CPP) which are all well-studied in the classical (non-convoy) setting. We assume that each edge in the graph has a length and a speed at which it can be traversed and that our convoy has a given length. While the convoy moves through the graph, parts of it can be located on different edges. For safety requirements, at all time the whole convoy needs to travel at the same speed which is dictated by the slowest edge on which currently a part of the convoy is located. For Convoy-SPP, we give a strongly polynomial time exact algorithm. For Convoy-TSP, we provide an O(log n)-approximation algorithm and an O(1)-approximation algorithm for trees. Both results carry over to Convoy-CPP which – maybe surprisingly – we prove to be NP-hard in the convoy setting. This contrasts the non-convoy setting in which the problem is polynomial time solvable.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2023
EditorsJerome Leroux, Sylvain Lombardy, David Peleg
PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
ISBN (Electronic)9783959772921
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2023
Event48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2023 - Bordeaux, France
Duration: 28 Aug 20231 Sep 2023

Publication series

NameLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
Volume272
ISSN (Print)1868-8969

Conference

Conference48th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2023
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityBordeaux
Period28/08/231/09/23

Keywords

  • approximation algorithms
  • convoy routing
  • shortest path problem
  • traveling salesperson problem

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