In a recent paper, Braun, Chung and Graham [1] have addressed a single-processor scheduling problem with time restrictions. Given a fixed integer $B \geq 2$, there is a set of jobs to be processed by a single processor subject to the following B-constraint. For any real $x$, no unit time interval $[x, x+1)$ is allowed to intersect more than $B$ jobs. The problem has been shown to be NP-hard when $B$ is part of the input and left as an open question whether it remains NP-hard or not if $B$ is fixed [1, 5, 7]. This paper contributes to answering this question that we prove the problem is NP-hard even when $B=2$. A PTAS is also presented for any constant $B \geq 2$.
In the scheduling with non-uniform communication delay problem, the input is a set of jobs with precedence constraints. Associated with every precedence constraint between a pair of jobs is a communication delay, the time duration the scheduler has to wait between the two jobs if they are scheduled on different machines. The objective is to assign the jobs to machines to minimize the makespan of the schedule. Despite being a fundamental problem in theory and a consequential problem in practice, the approximability of scheduling problems with communication delays is not very well understood. On…
A Note on NP-Hardness of Preemptive Mean Flow-Time Scheduling for Parallel Machines
Baptiste，Brucker，Chrobak，Dürr，Kravchenko和Sourd在论文“The complex of mean flow time scheduling problems with release times”中，证明了调度问题$P|pmtn,r_j|\sum C_j$的强NP-困难性，即以最小化平均流时间为目标的多处理器抢占式调度。指出了他们证明中的一个严重错误，并给出了该问题强NP-困难性的一个新证明。
We consider scheduling on identical and unrelated parallel machines with job assignment restrictions. These problems are NP-hard and they do not admit polynomial time approximation algorithms with approximation ratios smaller than $1.5$ unless P$=$NP. However, if we impose limitations on the set of machines that can process a job, the problem sometimes becomes easier in the sense that algorithms with approximation ratios better than $1.5$ exist. We introduce three graphs, based on the assignment restrictions and study the computational complexity of the scheduling problem with respect to struc…
We consider the problem of scheduling jobs with equal lengths on uniform parallel batch machines with non-identical capacities where each job can only be processed on a specified subset of machines called its processing set. For the case of equal release times, we give efficient exact algorithms for various objective functions. For the case of unequal release times, we give efficient exact algorithms for minimizing makespan.
We study the computational complexity of the non-preemptive scheduling problem of a list of independent jobs on a set of identical parallel processors with a makespan minimization objective. We make a maiden attempt to explore the combinatorial structure showing the exhaustive solution space of the problem by defining the \textit{Scheduling Solution Space Tree (SSST)} data structure. The properties of the \textit{SSST} are formally defined and characterized through our analytical results. We develop a unique technique to show the problem $\mathcal{NP}$ using the SSST and the \textit{Weighted S…
We provide new (parameterized) computational hardness results for Interval Scheduling on Unrelated Machines. It is a classical scheduling problem motivated from just-in-time or lean manufacturing, where the goal is to complete jobs exactly at their deadline. We are given $n$ jobs and $m$ machines. Each job has a deadline, a weight, and a processing time that may be different on each machine. The goal is find a schedule that maximized the total weight of jobs completed exactly at their deadline. Note that this uniquely defines a processing time interval for each job on each machine. Interval Sc…
Hardness, Tractability and Density Thresholds of finite Pinwheel Scheduling Variants
National Technical University of Athens（雅典国立技术大学）；Archimedes, Athena Research Center（阿尔基米德，阿瑞斯研究中心）；Sorbonne Université（索邦大学）；CNRS（法国国家科学研究中心）；LIP6（LIP6实验室）
We study the problem of scheduling precedence-constrained jobs on heterogenous machines in the presence of non-uniform job and machine communication delays. We are given as input $n$ unit size precedence-ordered jobs and $m$ related machines such that machine $i$ can execute up to $m_i$ jobs at a time. Each machine $i$ has an in-delay $ρ^{\mathrm{in}}_i$ and out-delay $ρ^{\mathrm{out}}_i$. Likewise, each job $v$ has an in-delay $ρ^{\mathrm{in}}_v$ and out-delay $ρ^{\mathrm{out}}_v$. In a schedule, job $v$ may be executed on machine $i$ at time $t$ if each predecessor $u$ of $v$ is completed on…
We consider the non-preemptive scheduling problem on identical machines where there is a parameter B and each machine in every unit length time interval can process up to B different jobs. The goal function we consider is the makespan minimization and we develop an EPTAS for this problem. Prior to our work a PTAS was known only for the case of one machine and constant values of B, and even the case of non-constant values of B on one machine was not known to admit a PTAS.
Machine scheduling is a fundamental optimization problem in computer science. The task of scheduling a set of jobs on a given number of machines and minimizing the makespan is well studied and among other results, we know that EPTAS's for machine scheduling on identical machines exist. Das and Wiese initiated the research on a generalization of makespan minimization, that includes so called bag-constraints. In this variation of machine scheduling the given set of jobs is partitioned into subsets, so called bags. Given this partition a schedule is only considered feasible when on any machine th…
Consider a scheduling problem in which jobs need to be processed on a single machine. Each job has a weight and is composed of several operations belonging to different families. The machine needs to perform a setup between the processing of operations of different families. A job is completed when its latest operation completes and the goal is to minimize the total weighted completion time of all jobs. We study this problem from the perspective of approximability and provide constant factor approximations as well as an inapproximability result. Prior to this work, only the NP-hardness of the …
Scheduling a set of jobs over a collection of machines is a fundamental problem that needs to be solved millions of times a day in various computing platforms: in operating systems, in large data clusters, and in data centers. Along with makespan, flow-time, which measures the length of time a job spends in a system before it completes, is arguably the most important metric to measure the performance of a scheduling algorithm. In recent years, there has been a remarkable progress in understanding flow-time based objective functions in diverse settings such as unrelated machines scheduling, bro…
In the restricted assignment problem, the input consists of a set of machines and a set of jobs each with a processing time and a subset of eligible machines. The goal is to find an assignment of the jobs to the machines minimizing the makespan, that is, the maximum summed up processing time any machine receives. Herein, jobs should only be assigned to those machines on which they are eligible. It is well-known that there is no polynomial time approximation algorithm with an approximation guarantee of less than 1.5 for the restricted assignment problem unless P=NP. In this work, we show hardne…
Inapproximability of Unique-Machine Precedence Scheduling for Unit-Length Jobs
Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, and Departments of EECS & Mathematics, UC Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Department of EECS, UC Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University（清华大学交叉信息研究院）
We consider variants of the restricted assignment problem where a set of jobs has to be assigned to a set of machines, for each job a size and a set of eligible machines is given, and the jobs may only be assigned to eligible machines with the goal of makespan minimization. For the variant with interval restrictions, where the machines can be arranged on a path such that each job is eligible on a subpath, we present the first better than $2$-approximation and an improved inapproximability result. In particular, we give a $(2-\frac{1}{24})$-approximation and show that no better than $9/8$-appro…
We revisit the complexity of the classical Interval Scheduling in the dynamic setting. In this problem, the goal is to maintain a set of intervals under insertions and deletions and report the size of the maximum size subset of pairwise disjoint intervals after each update. Nontrivial approximation algorithms are known for this problem, for both the unweighted and weighted versions [Henzinger, Neumann, Wiese, SoCG 2020]. Surprisingly, it was not known if the general exact version admits an exact solution working in sublinear time, that is, without recomputing the answer after each update. Our …
We revisit two well-studied scheduling problems in the unrelated machines setting where each job can have a different processing time on each machine. For minimizing total weighted completion time we give a 1.45-approximation, which improves upon the previous 1.488-approximation [Im and Shadloo SODA 2020]. The key technical ingredient in this improvement lies in a new rounding scheme that gives strong negative correlation with less restrictions. For minimizing $L_k$-norms of machine loads, inspired by [Kalaitzis et al. SODA 2017], we give better approximation algorithms. In particular we give …
In this paper we consider the open shop scheduling problem where the jobs have delivery times. The minimization criterion is the maximum lateness of the jobs. This problem is known to be NP-hard, even restricted to only 2 machines. We establish that any list scheduling algorithm has a performance ratio of 2. For a fixed number of machines, we design a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS) which represents the best possible result due to the strong NP-hardness of the problem.
A Lasserre Lower Bound for the Min-Sum Single Machine Scheduling Problem
最小和单机排序问题（记为1|| sum f_j）推广了大量的排序问题。第一常数近似保证最近才获得，并且是基于用所谓的Knapsack-Cover不等式加强的自然时间索引LP松弛（参见Bansal和Pruhs，Cheung和Shmoys以及Mestre和Verschae最近的4+ε近似）。这些松弛有一个完整性差距为2，因为最小背包问题是一个特殊情况。没有APX硬度结果是已知的，仍然可以想象存在PTAS。有趣的是，当目标函数作为约束加入时，Lasserre层次松弛将最小背包问题的完整性间隙减小到1+ε。本文研究了最小和单机排序问题在Lasserre层次算法下的复杂性。我们证明了这个模型的第一个下界，显示的完整性差距是无界的水平Ω（\sqrt{n}），即使是在O（n log n）的时间内由Moore-Hodgson算法，即最小数目的误工问题的一个变种。我们考虑一个自然的配方，将目标函数作为一个约束，并证明了部分对角化的矩阵与放松和利用这种特性的结果。
Coflow scheduling models communication requests in parallel computing frameworks where multiple data flows between shared resources need to be completed before computation can continue. In this paper, we introduce Path-based Coflow Scheduling, a generalized problem variant that considers coflows as collections of flows along fixed paths on general network topologies with node capacity restrictions. For this problem, we minimize the coflows' total weighted completion time. We show that flows on paths in the original network can be interpreted as hyperedges in a hypergraph and transform the path…
In mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs), each sensor has the ability not only to sense and transmit data but also to move to some specific location. Because the movement of sensors consumes much more power than that in sensing and communication, the problem of scheduling mobile sensors to cover all targets and maintain network connectivity such that the total movement distance of mobile sensors is minimized has received a great deal of attention. However, in reality, due to a limited budget or numerous targets, mobile sensors may be not enough to cover all targets or form a connected networ…
Consider a set of jobs connected to a directed acyclic task graph with a fixed source and sink. The edges of this graph model precedence constraints and the jobs have to be scheduled with respect to those. We introduce the Server Cloud Scheduling problem, in which the jobs have to be processed either on a single local machine or on one of many cloud machines. Both the source and the sink have to be scheduled on the local machine. For each job, processing times both on the server and in the cloud are given. Furthermore, for each edge in the task graph, a communication delay is included in the i…
This paper studies the complexity of single-machine scheduling with an external resource, which is rented for a non-interrupted period. Jobs that need this external resource are executed only when the external resource is available. There is a cost associated with the scheduling of jobs and a cost associated with the duration of the renting period of the external resource. We look at four classes of problems with an external resource: a class of problems where the renting period is budgeted and the scheduling cost needs to be minimized, a class of problems where the scheduling cost is budgeted…
A major challenge for social event organizers (e.g., event planning and marketing companies, venues) is attracting the maximum number of participants, since it has great impact on the success of the event, and, consequently, the expected gains (e.g., revenue, artist/brand publicity). In this paper, we introduce the Social Event Scheduling (SES) problem, which schedules a set of social events considering user preferences and behavior, events' spatiotemporal conflicts, and competing vents, in order to maximize the overall number of attendees. We show that SES is strongly NP-hard, even in highly …
This paper studies a generalized busy-time scheduling model on heterogeneous machines. The input to the model includes a set of jobs and a set of machine types. Each job has a size and a time interval during which it should be processed. Each job is to be placed on a machine for execution. Different types of machines have distinct capacities and cost rates. The total size of the jobs running on a machine must always be kept within the machine's capacity, giving rise to placement restrictions for jobs of various sizes among the machine types. Each machine used is charged according to the time d…
National Technical University of Athens（雅典国立技术大学）；Archimedes, Athena Research Center（阿基米德，雅典研究中心）；Paderborn University（帕德博恩大学）；University of Ioannina（约安尼纳大学）
We study the scheduling of flows on a switch with the goal of optimizing metrics related to the response time of the flows. The input to the problem is a sequence of flow requests on a switch, where the switch is represented by a bipartite graph with a capacity on each vertex (or port), and a flow request is an edge with associated demand. In each round, a subset of edges can be scheduled subject to the constraint that the total demand of the scheduled edges incident on any vertex is at most the capacity of the vertex. Previous work has essentially settled the complexity of metrics based on {\…
This work introduces a natural variant of the online machine scheduling problem on unrelated machines, which we refer to as the favorite machine model. In this model, each job has a minimum processing time on a certain set of machines, called favorite machines, and some longer processing times on other machines. This type of costs (processing times) arise quite naturally in many practical problems. In the online version, jobs arrive one by one and must be allocated irrevocably upon each arrival without knowing the future jobs. We consider online algorithms for allocating jobs in order to minim…
Finding schedules for pairwise meetings between the members of a complex social group without creating interpersonal conflict is challenging, especially when different relationships have different needs. We formally define and study the underlying optimisation problem: Polyamorous Scheduling. In Polyamorous Scheduling, we are given an edge-weighted graph and try to find a periodic schedule of matchings in this graph such that the maximal weighted waiting time between consecutive occurrences of the same edge is minimised. We show that the problem is NP-hard and that there is no efficient approx…
Given a system model where machines have distinct speeds and power ratings but are otherwise compatible, we consider various problems of scheduling under resource constraints on the system which place the restriction that not all machines can be run at once. These can be power, energy, or makespan constraints on the system. Given such constraints, there are problems with divisible as well as non-divisible jobs. In the setting where there is a constraint on power, we show that the problem of minimizing makespan for a set of divisible jobs is NP-hard by reduction to the knapsack problem. We then…
A mixed shop is a manufacturing infrastructure designed to process a mixture of a set of flow-shop jobs and a set of open-shop jobs. Mixed shops are in general much more complex to schedule than flow-shops and open-shops, and have been studied since the 1980's. We consider the three machine proportionate mixed shop problem denoted as $M3 \mid prpt \mid C_{\max}$, in which each job has equal processing times on all three machines. Koulamas and Kyparisis [{\it European Journal of Operational Research}, 243:70--74,2015] showed that the problem is solvable in polynomial time in some very special c…
Motivated by scheduling in Geo-distributed data analysis, we propose a target location problem for multi-commodity flow (LoMuF for short). Given commodities to be sent from their resources, LoMuF aims at locating their targets so that the multi-commodity flow is optimized in some sense. LoMuF is a combination of two fundamental problems, namely, the facility location problem and the network flow problem. We study the hardness and algorithmic issues of the problem in various settings. The findings lie in three aspects. First, a series of NP-hardness and APX-hardness results are obtained, uncove…
The task of scheduling jobs to machines while minimizing the total makespan, the sum of weighted completion times, or a norm of the load vector, are among the oldest and most fundamental tasks in combinatorial optimization. Since all of these problems are in general NP-hard, much attention has been given to the regime where there is only a small number $k$ of job types, but possibly the number of jobs $n$ is large; this is the few job types, high-multiplicity regime. Despite many positive results, the hardness boundary of this regime was not understood until now. We show that makespan minimiza…
The paper considers single-machine scheduling problems with a non-renewable resource. In this setting, we are given a set jobs, each of which is characterized by a processing time, a weight, and the job also has some resource requirement. At fixed points in time, a certain amount of the resource is made available to be consumed by the jobs. The goal is to assign the jobs non-preemptively to time slots on the machine, so that at any time their resource requirement does not exceed the available amounts of resources. The objective that we consider here is the minimization of the sum of weighted c…
In contrast to the fixed parameter analysis (FPA), in the variable parameter analysis (VPA) the value of the target problem parameter is not fixed, it rather depends on the structure of a given problem instance and tends to have a favorable asymptotic behavior when the size of the input increases. While applying the VPA to an intractable optimization problem with $n$ objects, the exponential-time dependence in enumeration of the feasible solution set is attributed solely to the variable parameter $ν$, $ν<<n$. As opposed to the FPA, the VPA does not imply any restriction on some problem paramet…
