On an exact method for the constrained shortest path problem

The constrained shortest path (CSP) is a well known NP-Hard problem. Besides from its straightforward application as a network problem, the CSP is also used as a building block under column-generation solution methods for crew scheduling and crew rostering problems. We propose an exact solution method for the CSP capable of handling large-scale networks in a reasonable amount of time. We compared our approach with three different state-of-the-art algorithms for the CSP and found optimal solutions on networks with up to 40,000 nodes and 800,000 arcs. We extended the algorithm to effectively solve the auxiliary problems of a multi-activity shift scheduling problem and a bus rapid transit route design problem tackled with column generation. We obtained significant speedups against alternative column generation schemes that solve the auxiliary problem with state-of-the-art commercial (linear) optimizers. We also present a first parallel version of our algorithm that shows promising results.     

Two fast algorithms for all-pairs shortest paths

In a large, dense network, the computation of the ‘distances’, i.e., the shortest path lengths between all pairs of nodes, can take a long time with algorithms known from the literature.     

Heuristic shortest path algorithms for transportation applications: State of the art

There are a number of transportation applications that require the use of a heuristic shortest path algorithm rather than one of the standard, optimal algorithms. This is primarily due to the requirements of some transportation applications where shortest paths need to be quickly identified either because an immediate response is required (e.g., in-vehicle route guidance systems) or because the shortest paths need to be recalculated repeatedly (e.g., vehicle routing and scheduling). For this reason a number of heuristic approaches have been advocated for decreasing the computation time of the shortest path algorithm. This paper presents a survey review of various heuristic shortest path algorithms that have been developed in the past. The goal is to identify the main features of different heuristic strategies, develop a unifying classification framework, and summarize relevant computational experience.     

An oriented spanning tree based genetic algorithm for multi-criteria shortest path problems

This paper investigates an oriented spanning tree (OST) based genetic algorithm (GA) for the multi-criteria shortest path problem (MSPP) as well as the multi-criteria constrained shortest path problem (MCSPP). By encoding a path as an OST, in contrast with the existing evolutionary algorithms (EA) for shortest path problem (SPP), the designed GA provides a “search from a paths set to another paths set” mutation mechanism such that both of its local search and global search capabilities are greatly improved. Because the possibility to find a feasible path in a paths set is usually larger than that of only one path is feasible, the designed GA has more predominance for solving MCSPPs. Some computational tests are presented and the test results are compared with those obtained by a recent EA of which the encoding approach and the ideas of evolution operators such as mutation and crossover are adopted in most of the existing EAs for shortest path problems. The test results indicate that the new algorithm is available for both of MSPP and MCSPP.     

Parallel algorithms for shortest path problems in polygons

Given ann-vertex simple polygon we address the following problems: (i) find the shortest path between two pointss andd insideP, and (ii) compute the shortestpath tree between a single points and each vertex ofP (which implicitly represents all the shortest paths). We show how to solve the first problem inO(logn) time usingO(n) processors, and the more general second problem inO(log² n) time usingO(n) processors, and the more general second problem inO(log² n) time usingO(n) processors for any simple polygonP. We assume the CREW RAM shared memory model of computation in which concurrent reads are allowed, but no two processors should attempt to simultaneously write in the same memory location. The algorithms are based on the divide-and-conquer paradigm and are quite different from the known sequential algorithmsResearch supported by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (McGill University) grant 276-07     

Hybrid shortest path algorithm for vehicle navigation

Vehicle navigation is one of the important applications of the single-source single-target shortest path algorithm. This application frequently involves large scale networks with limited computing power and memory space. In this study, several heuristic concepts, including hierarchical, bidirectional, and A^*, are combined and used to develop hybrid algorithms that reduce searching space, improve searching speed, and provide the shortest path that closely resembles the behavior of most road users. The proposed algorithms are demonstrated on a real network consisting 374,520 nodes and 502,485 links. The network is preprocessed and separated into two connected subnetworks. The upper layer of network is constructed with high mobility links, while the lower layer comprises high accessibility links. The proposed hybrid algorithms are implemented on both PC and hand-held platforms. Experiments show a significant acceleration compared to the Dijkstra and A^* algorithm. Memory consumption of the hybrid algorithm is also considerably less than traditional algorithms. Results of this study showed the hybrid algorithms have an advantage over the traditional algorithm for vehicle navigation systems.     

Fuzzy Dijkstra algorithm for shortest path problem under uncertain environment

A common algorithm to solve the shortest path problem (SPP) is the Dijkstra algorithm. In this paper, a generalized Dijkstra algorithm is proposed to handle SPP in an uncertain environment. Two key issues need to be addressed in SPP with fuzzy parameters. One is how to determine the addition of two edges. The other is how to compare the distance between two different paths with their edge lengths represented by fuzzy numbers. To solve these problems, the graded mean integration representation of fuzzy numbers is adopted to improve the classical Dijkstra algorithm. A numerical example of a transportation network is used to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method.     

An efficient fault-containing self-stabilizing algorithm for the shortest path problem

Shortest path finding has a variety of applications in transportation and communication. In this paper, we propose a fault-containing self-stabilizing algorithm for the shortest path problem in a distributed system. The improvement made by the proposed algorithm in stabilization times for single-fault situations can demonstrate the desirability of an efficient fault-containing self-stabilizing algorithm. For single-fault situations, the worst-case stabilization time of the proposed algorithm is O(Δ), where Δ is the maximum node degree in the system, and the contamination number of the proposed algorithm is 1.     

Efficient approximation algorithms for shortest cycles in undirected graphs

We describe a simple combinatorial approximation algorithm for finding a shortest (simple) cycle in an undirected graph. Given an adjacency-list representation of an undirected graph G with n vertices and unknown girth k, our algorithm returns with high probability a cycle of length at most 2k for even k and 2k+2 for odd k, in time . Thus, in general, it yields a approximation. For a weighted, undirected graph, with non-negative edge weights in the range {1,2,…,M}, we present a simple combinatorial 2-approximation algorithm for a minimum weight (simple) cycle that runs in time O(n²logn(logn+logM)).     

一种求受顶点数限制的最短路径的新算法

提出了一种基于逆邻接表求受顶点数限制的最短路径的新算法,其时间复杂度为O(m-2)^*w)(m是受限制的顶点数,w是有向图中弧的条数),优于同类算法。采用逆邻接表作为图的存储结构,该算法很容易实现。     

Linear-time algorithms for visibility and shortest path problems inside triangulated simple polygons

Given a triangulation of a simple polygonP, we present linear-time algorithms for solving a collection of problems concerning shortest paths and visibility withinP. These problems include calculation of the collection of all shortest paths insideP from a given source vertexS to all the other vertices ofP, calculation of the subpolygon ofP consisting of points that are visible from a given segment withinP, preprocessingP for fast "ray shooting" queries, and several related problems.Work on this paper by this author has been supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-82-K-0381, National Science Foundation Grant No. NSF-DCR-83-20085, and by grants from the Digital Equipment Corporation, the IBM Corporation, and from the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation.Work on this paper by this author has been supported by National Science Foundation Grant DCR-86-05962.     

Solving shortest path problem using particle swarm optimization

This paper presents the investigations on the application of particle swarm optimization (PSO) to solve shortest path (SP) routing problems. A modified priority-based encoding incorporating a heuristic operator for reducing the possibility of loop-formation in the path construction process is proposed for particle representation in PSO. Simulation experiments have been carried out on different network topologies for networks consisting of 15–70 nodes. It is noted that the proposed PSO-based approach can find the optimal path with good success rates and also can find closer sub-optimal paths with high certainty for all the tested networks. It is observed that the performance of the proposed algorithm surpasses those of recently reported genetic algorithm based approaches for this problem.     

A hill-jump algorithm of Hopfield neural network for shortest path problem in communication network

In this paper, we present a hill-jump algorithm of the Hopfield neural network for the shortest path problem in communication networks, where the goal is to find the shortest path from a starting node to an ending node. The method is intended to provide a near-optimum parallel algorithm for solving the shortest path problem. To do this, first the method uses the Hopfield neural network to get a path. Because the neural network always falls into a local minimum, the found path is usually not a shortest path. To search the shortest path, the method then helps the neural network jump from local minima of energy function by using another neural network built from a part of energy function of the problem. The method is tested through simulating some randomly generated communication networks, with the simulation results showing that the solution found by the proposed method is superior to that of the best existing neural network based algorithm.     

Improved algorithms for the k simple shortest paths and the replacement paths problems

Given a directed, non-negatively weighted graph G=(V,E) and s,t∈V, we consider two problems. In the k simple shortest paths problem, we want to find the k simple paths from s to t with the k smallest weights. In the replacement paths problem, we want the shortest path from s to t that avoids e, for every edge e in the original shortest path from s to t. The best known algorithm for the k simple shortest paths problem has a running of O(k(mn+n²logn)). For the replacement paths problem the best known result is the trivial one running in time O(mn+n²logn).In this paper we present two simple algorithms for the replacement paths problem and the k simple shortest paths problem in weighted directed graphs (using a solution of the All Pairs Shortest Paths problem). The running time of our algorithm for the replacement paths problem is O(mn+n²loglogn). For the k simple shortest paths we will perform O(k) iterations of the second simple shortest path (each in O(mn+n²loglogn) running time) using a useful property of Roditty and Zwick [L. Roditty, U. Zwick, Replacement paths and k simple shortest paths in unweighted directed graphs, in: Proc. of International Conference on Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP), 2005, pp. 249-260]. These running times immediately improve the best known results for both problems over sparse graphs.Moreover, we prove that both the replacement paths and the k simple shortest paths (for constant k) problems are not harder than APSP (All Pairs Shortest Paths) in weighted directed graphs.     

求解最短路径的遗传算法中若干问题的讨论

针对道路交通网络中的最短路径问题,讨论了遗传算法中遗传算子的设计及运行参数的选择,提出一种新的交叉算子,提高了种群多样性.通过计算机仿真实验,比较了多种遗传算子设计方案的优劣及不同运行参数对算法效果的影响,为实际应用提供了参考.采用VC语言实现该遗传算法,并应用于实际的电子地图中,结果表明了算法的有效性和实用性.     

Solving shortest paths efficiently on nearly acyclic directed graphs

Shortest path problems can be solved very efficiently when a directed graph is nearly acyclic. Earlier results defined a graph decomposition, now called the 1-dominator set, which consists of a unique collection of acyclic structures with each single acyclic structure dominated by a single associated trigger vertex. In this framework, a specialised shortest path algorithm only spends delete-min operations on trigger vertices, thereby making the computation of shortest paths through non-trigger vertices easier. A previously presented algorithm computed the 1-dominator set in O(mn) worst-case time, which allowed it to be integrated as part of an O(mn+nrlogr) time all-pairs algorithm. Here m and n respectively denote the number of edges and vertices in the graph, while r denotes the number of trigger vertices. A new algorithm presented in this paper computes the 1-dominator set in just O(m) time. This can be integrated as part of the O(m+rlogr) time spent solving single-source, improving on the value of r obtained by the earlier tree-decomposition single-source algorithm. In addition, a new bidirectional form of 1-dominator set is presented, which further improves the value of r by defining acyclic structures in both directions over edges in the graph. The bidirectional 1-dominator set can similarly be computed in O(m) time and included as part of the O(m+rlogr) time spent computing single-source. This paper also presents a new all-pairs algorithm under the more general framework where r is defined as the size of any predetermined feedback vertex set of the graph, improving the previous all-pairs time complexity from O(mn+nr²) to O(mn+r³).     

Reduction approaches for robust shortest path problems

We investigate the uncertain versions of two classical combinatorial optimization problems, namely the Single-Pair Shortest Path Problem (SP-SPP) and the Single-Source Shortest Path Problem (SS-SPP). The former consists of finding a path of minimum length connecting two specific nodes in a finite directed graph G; the latter consists of finding the shortest paths from a fixed node to the remaining nodes of G. When considering the uncertain versions of both problems we assume that cycles may occur in G and that arc lengths are (possibly degenerating) nonnegative intervals. We provide sufficient conditions for a node and an arc to be always or never in an optimal solution of the Minimax regret Single-Pair Shortest Path Problem (MSP-SPP). Similarly, we provide sufficient conditions for an arc to be always or never in an optimal solution of the Minimax regret Single-Source Shortest Path Problem (MSS-SPP). We exploit such results to develop pegging tests useful to reduce the overall running time necessary to exactly solve both problems.     

Multi-objective and multi-constrained non-additive shortest path problems

Shortest path problems appear as subproblems in numerous optimization problems. In most papers concerning multiple objective shortest path problems, additivity of the objective is a de-facto assumption, but in many real-life situations objectives and criteria, can be non-additive. The purpose of this paper is to give a general framework for dominance tests for problems involving a number of non-additive criteria. These dominance tests can help to eliminate paths in a dynamic programming framework when using multiple objectives. Results on real-life multi-objective problems containing non-additive criteria are reported. We show that in many cases the framework can be used to efficiently reduce the number of generated paths.     

低代价最短路径树快速算法的时间复杂度研究

低代价最短路径树是一种广泛使用的多播树,它能够在保证传送时延最小的同时尽量降低带宽消耗.快速低代价最短路径树算法FLSPT是在DDSP算法的基础上,通过改进节点的搜索过程,该算法构造的最短路径树与DDSP算法构造的树具有相同的性能,但其时间复杂度低于DDSP,其时间复杂度为O(nlog n e).FLSPT是利用Fibonacci堆来选择图中未计算点的最小值来计算时间复杂度的.通过对FLSPT的程序和Fibonacci堆的分析发现,用O(log(n!) e)来表示FLSPT算法的时间复杂度比文献[6]中分析的O(nlog(n) e)更能体现FLSPT算法高效率.