一个混合协调分配机制下自私调度问题的社会无序代价分析

自私调度问题是一类应用于互联网和云计算的特殊调度问题.不同于传统调度问题,它的每个工件是一个自私的参与者,可以自主地选择一台机器加工以谋求自身加工费用最小化.针对机器可以自由选择WSPT机制或PS机制的混合协调分配机制自私调度问题,通过设计一个该问题的松弛线性规划,然后写出该线性规划的对偶规划.比较上述两个规划的最优目标值,以及该自私调度问题的最优社会费用和混合Nash均衡解的最差社会费用这四个数值,分析出该自私调度问题的混合社会无序代价为4.     

Truthful mechanism design via correlated tree rounding

A powerful algorithmic technique for truthful mechanism design is the maximal-in-distributional-range (MIDR) paradigm. Unfortunately, many such algorithms use heavy algorithmic machinery, e.g., the ellipsoid method and (approximate) solution of convex programs. In this paper, we present a correlated rounding technique for designing mechanisms that are truthful in expectation. It is elementary and can be implemented quickly. The main property we rely on is that the domain offers fractional optimum solutions with a tree structure. In auctions based on the generalized assignment problem, each bidder has a publicly known knapsack constraint that captures the subsets of items that are of value to him. He has a private valuation for each item and strives to maximize the value of assigned items minus payment. For this domain we design a truthful 2-approximate MIDR mechanism for social welfare maximization. It avoids using the ellipsoid method or convex programming. In contrast to some previous work, our mechanism achieves exact truthfulness. In restricted-related scheduling with selfish machines, each job comes with a public weight, and it must be assigned to a machine from a public job-specific subset. Each machine has a private speed and strives to maximize payments minus workload of jobs assigned to it. Here we design a mechanism for makespan minimization. This is a single-parameter domain, but the approximation status of the optimization problem is similar to unrelated machine scheduling: The best known algorithm obtains a (non-truthful) 2-approximation for unrelated machines, and there is 1.5-hardness. Our mechanism matches this bound with a truthful 2-approximation.     

Unrelated machine scheduling with time-window and machine downtime constraints: An application to a naval battle-group problem

This paper deals with an unrelated machine scheduling problem of minimizing the total weighted flow time, subject to time-window job availability and machine downtime side constraints. We present a zero-one integer programming formulation of this problem. The linear programming relaxation of this formulation affords a tight lower bound and often generates an integer optimal solution for the problem. By exploiting the special structures inherent in the formulation, we develop some classes of strong valid inequalities that can be used to tighten the initial formulation, as well as to provide cutting planes in the context of a branch-and-cut procedure. A major computational bottleneck is the solution of the underlying linear programming relaxation because of the extremely high degree of degeneracy inherent in the formulation. In order to overcome this difficulty, we employ a Lagrangian dual formulation to generate lower and upper bounds and to drive the branch-and-bound algorithm. As a practical instance of the unrelated machine scheduling problem, we describe a combinatorial naval defense problem. This problem seeks to schedule a set of illuminators (passive homing devices) in order to strike a given set of targets using surface-to-air missiles in a naval battle-group engagement scenario. We present computational results for this problem using suitable realistic data.     

Approximability of average completion time scheduling on unrelated machines

We show that minimizing the average job completion time on unrelated machines is \(\mathcal {APX}\)-hard if preemption of jobs is allowed. This provides one of the last missing pieces in the complexity classification of machine scheduling with (weighted) sum of completion times objective. The proof is based on a mixed integer linear program. This means that verification of the reduction is partly done by an ILP-solver. This gives a concise proof which is easy to verify. In addition, we give a deterministic 1.698-approximation algorithm for the weighted version of the problem. The improvement is made by modifying and combining known algorithms and by the use of new lower bounds. These results improve on the known \(\mathcal {NP}\)-hardness and 2-approximability.     

Scheduling jobs with time-resource tradeoff via nonlinear programming

We consider a scheduling problem where the processing time of any job is dependent on the usage of a discrete renewable resource, e.g. personnel. An amount of k units of that resource can be allocated to the jobs at any time, and the more of that resource is allocated to a job, the smaller its processing time. The objective is to find a resource allocation and a schedule that minimizes the makespan. We explicitly allow for succinctly encodable time-resource tradeoff functions, which calls for mathematical programming techniques other than those that have been used before. Utilizing a (nonlinear) integer mathematical program, we obtain the first polynomial time approximation algorithm for the scheduling problem, with performance bound (3+ε) for any ε>0. Our approach relies on a fully polynomial time approximation scheme to solve the nonlinear mathematical programming relaxation. We also derive lower bounds for the approximation.     

Scheduling a single machine with multiple job processing ability to minimize makespan

This paper investigates a new problem, called single machine scheduling with multiple job processing ability, which is derived from the production of the continuous walking beaming reheating furnace in iron and steel industry. In this problem, there is no batch and the jobs enter and leave the machine one by one and continuously, which is different from general single machine batch scheduling problem where the jobs in a batch share the same start and departure time. Therefore, the start time and the departure time of a job depend on not only the job sequence but also the machine capacity. This problem is also different from the single semi-continuous batching machine scheduling recently studied in the literature, where the jobs are processed in batch mode and a new batch cannot be started for processing until the processing of the previous batch is completed though jobs in the same batch enter and leave the machine one by one. The objective of this problem is to minimize the makespan. We formulate this problem as a mixed integer linear programming model and propose a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for this problem. Computational results on randomly generated instances show that the proposed PSO algorithm is effective.     

A column generation based decomposition algorithm for a parallel machine just-in-time scheduling problem

We propose a column generation based exact decomposition algorithm for the problem of scheduling n jobs with an unrestrictively large common due date on m identical parallel machines to minimize total weighted earliness and tardiness. We first formulate the problem as an integer program, then reformulate it, using Dantzig–Wolfe decomposition, as a set partitioning problem with side constraints. Based on this set partitioning formulation, a branch and bound exact solution algorithm is developed for the problem. In the branch and bound tree, each node is the linear relaxation problem of a set partitioning problem with side constraints. This linear relaxation problem is solved by column generation approach where columns represent partial schedules on single machines and are generated by solving two single machine subproblems. Our computational results show that this decomposition algorithm is capable of solving problems with up to 60 jobs in reasonable cpu time.     

A heuristic for scheduling in a two-stage hybrid flowshop with renewable resources shared among the stages

In this paper we propose a heuristic for solving the problem of resource constrained preemptive scheduling in the two-stage flowshop with one machine at the first stage and parallel unrelated machines at the second stage, where renewable resources are shared among the stages, so some quantities of the same resource can be used at different stages at the same time. Availability of every resource at any moment is limited and resource requirements of jobs are arbitrary. The objective is minimization of makespan. The problem is NP-hard. The heuristic first sequences jobs on the machine at stage 1 and then solves the preemptive scheduling problem at stage 2. Priority rules which depend on processing times and resource requirements of jobs are proposed for sequencing jobs at stage 1. A column generation algorithm which involves linear programming, a tabu search algorithm and a greedy procedure is proposed to minimize the makespan at stage 2. A lower bound on the optimal makespan in which sharing of the resources between the stages is taken into account is also derived. The performance of the heuristic evaluated experimentally by comparing the solutions to the lower bound is satisfactory.     

LP-based online scheduling: from single to parallel machines

We study classic machine sequencing problems in an online setting. Specifically, we look at deterministic and randomized algorithms for the problem of scheduling jobs with release dates on identical parallel machines, to minimize the sum of weighted completion times: Both preemptive and non-preemptive versions of the problem are analyzed. Using linear programming techniques, borrowed from the single machine case, we are able to design a 2.62-competitive deterministic algorithm for the non-preemptive version of the problem, improving upon the 3.28-competitive algorithm of Megow and Schulz. Additionally, we show how to combine randomization techniques with the linear programming approach to obtain randomized algorithms for both versions of the problem with competitive ratio strictly smaller than 2 for any number of machines (but approaching two as the number of machines grows). Our algorithms naturally extend several approaches for single and parallel machine scheduling. We also present a brief computational study, for randomly generated problem instances, which suggests that our algorithms perform very well in practice. A preliminary version of this work appears in the Proceedings of the 11th conference on integer programming and combinatorial optimization (IPCO), Berlin, 8–10 June 2005.     

Two-machine flowshop scheduling problems involving a batching machine with transportation or deterioration consideration

This paper considers two scheduling problems for a two-machine flowshop where a single machine is followed by a batching machine. The first problem is that there is a transporter to carry the jobs between machines. The second problem is that there are deteriorating jobs to be processed on the single machine. For the first problem with minimizing the makespan, we formulate it as a mixed integer programming model and then prove that it is strongly NP-hard. A heuristic algorithm is proposed for solving this problem and its worst case performance is analyzed. The computational experiments are carried out and the numerical results show that the heuristic algorithm is effective. For the second problem, we derive the optimal algorithms with polynomial time for minimizing the makespan, the total completion time and the maximum lateness, respectively.     

转包且具有不同费用时间段的排序问题

本文研究制造商可以将工件转包给承包商加工的排序模型,承包商仅有一台机器,转包费用由分配给转包工件的不同时间段费用确定.本文分别研究制造商有一台单机及两台自由作业机器环境情形,需要确定被转包工件集及全部工件的加工顺序,使得工件最大完工时间与转包费用和最小.本文利用归约方法对制造商每个机器环境,证明问题NP困难性,并提出动态规划算法.     

Preemptive scheduling with rejection

 We consider the problem of preemptively scheduling a set of n jobs on m (identical, uniformly related, or unrelated) parallel machines. The scheduler may reject a subset of the jobs and thereby incur job-dependent penalties for each rejected job, and he must construct a schedule for the remaining jobs so as to optimize the preemptive makespan on the m machines plus the sum of the penalties of the jobs rejected. We provide a complete classification of these scheduling problems with respect to complexity and approximability. Our main results are on the variant with an arbitrary number of unrelated machines. This variant is APX-hard, and we design a 1.58-approximation algorithm for it. All other considered variants are weakly -hard, and we provide fully polynomial time approximation schemes for them. Finally, we argue that our results for unrelated machines can be carried over to the corresponding preemptive open shop scheduling problem with rejection. Received: October 30, 2000 / Accepted: September 26, 2001 Published online: September 5, 2002 Key words. scheduling – preemption – approximation algorithm – worst case ratio – computational complexity – in-approximability Supported in part by the EU Thematic Network APPOL, Approximation and Online Algorithms, IST-1999-14084 Supported by the START program Y43-MAT of the Austrian Ministry of Science.     

工作有到达时间且拒绝工件总个数受限的单机平行分批排序问题的近似算法

考虑了工件有到达时间且拒绝工件总个数不超过某个给定值的单机平行分批排序问题.在该问题中,给定一个工件集和一台可以进行批处理加工的机器.每个工件有它的到达时间和加工时间;对于每个工件来说要么被拒绝要么被接受安排在机器的某一个批次里进行加工;一个工件如果被拒绝,则需支付该工件对应的拒绝费用.为了保证一定的服务水平,要求拒绝工件的总个数不超过给定值.目标是如何安排被接受工件的加工批次和加工次序使得其最大完工时间与被拒绝工件的总拒绝费用之和最小.该问题是NP-难的,对此给出了伪多项式时间动态规划精确算法,2-近似算法和完全多项式时间近似方案.     

Realistic two-stage flowshop batch scheduling problems with transportation capacity and times

This paper investigates single-batch and batch-single flow shop scheduling problem taking transportation among machines into account. Both transportation capacity and transportation times are explicitly considered. While the single processing machine processes one job at a time, the batch processing machine processes a batch of jobs simultaneously. The batch processing time is the longest processing times of jobs assigned to that batch.Each problem is formulated as a mixed integer programming model to find optimal makespan. Lower bounds and heuristic algorithms are proposed and computational experiments are carried out to verify their effectiveness.     

Scheduling flexible job-shops with transportation times: Mathematical models and a hybrid imperialist competitive algorithm

After the completion of a job on a machine, it needs to be transported to the next machine, actually taking some time. However, the transportation times are commonly neglected in the literature. This paper incorporates the transportation times between the machines into the flexible job-shop scheduling problem. We mathematically formulate the problem by two mixed integer linear programming models. Since the problem is NP-hard, we propose an adaptation of the imperialist competitive algorithm hybridized by a simulated annealing-based local search to solve the problem. Various operators and parameters of the algorithm are calibrated using the Taguchi method. The presented algorithm is assessed by comparing it against two other competitive algorithms in the literature. The computational results show that this algorithm has an outstanding performance in solving the problem.     

A dynamic programming algorithm for scheduling jobs in a two-machine open shop with an availability constraint

This paper studies a two-machine open shop scheduling problem with an availability constraint, ie we assume that a machine is not always available and that the processing of the interrupted job can be resumed when the machine becomes available again. We consider the makespan minimization as criterion. This problem is NP-hard. We develop a pseudo-polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm to solve the problem optimally when the machine is not available at time s>0. Then, we propose a mixed integer linear programming formulation, that allows to solve instances with up to 500 jobs optimally in less than 5?min with CPLEX solver. Finally, we show that any heuristic algorithm has a worst-case error bound of 1.     

A graph-theoretic approach to interval scheduling on dedicated unrelated parallel machines

We study the problem of scheduling n non-preemptive jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. Each machine can process a specified subset of the jobs. If a job is assigned to a machine, then it occupies a specified time interval on the machine. Each assignment of a job to a machine yields a value. The objective is to find a subset of the jobs and their feasible assignments to the machines such that the total value is maximized. The problem is NP-hard in the strong sense. We reduce the problem to finding a maximum weight clique in a graph and survey available solution methods. Furthermore, based on the peculiar properties of graphs, we propose an exact solution algorithm and five heuristics. We conduct computer experiments to assess the performance of our and other existing heuristics. The computational results show that our heuristics outperform the existing heuristics.     

The wafer probing scheduling problem (WPSP)

The wafer probing scheduling problem (WPSP) is a variation of the parallel-machine scheduling problem, which has many real-world applications, particularly, in the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing industry. In the wafer probing factories, the jobs are clustered by their product types, which must be processed on groups of identical parallel machines and be completed before the due dates. Further, the job processing time depends on the product type, and the machine setup time is sequence dependent on the orders of jobs processed. Since the wafer probing scheduling problem involves constraints on job clusters, job-cluster dependent processing time, due dates, machine capacity, and sequence dependent setup time, it is more difficult to solve than the classical parallel-machine scheduling problem. In this paper, we formulate the WPSP as an integer programming problem. We also transform the WPSP into the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW), a well-known network routing problem which has been investigated extensively. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the proposed transformation. Based on the provided transformation, we present three efficient algorithms to solve the WPSP near-optimally.     

Local search metaheuristics for discrete–continuous scheduling problems

Problems of scheduling nonpreemptable jobs which require simultaneously a machine from a set of parallel, identical machines and a continuous, renewable resource are considered. For each job there are known: its processing speed as a continuous, concave function of a continuous resource allotted at a time and its processing demand. The optimization criterion is the schedule length. The problem can be decomposed into two interrelated subproblems: (i) to sequence jobs on machines, and (ii) to find an optimal (continuous) resource allocation among jobs already sequenced. Problem (ii) can be formulated as a convex programming problem with linear constraints and solved using proper solvers. Thus, the problem remains to generate a set of all feasible sequences of jobs on machines (this guarantees finding an optimal schedule in the general case). However, the cardinality of this set grows exponentially with the number of jobs. Thus, we propose to use heuristic search methods defined on the space of feasible sequences. Three metaheuristics: tabu search (TS), simulated annealing (SA) and genetic algorithm (GA) have been implemented and compared computationally with a random sampling technique. The computational experiment has been carried out on an SGI PowerChallenge XL computer with 12 RISC R8000 processors. Some directions for further research have been pointed out.     

A single machine scheduling problem with availability constraints and sequence-dependent setup costs

We study a single machine scheduling problem with availability constraints and sequence-dependent setup costs, with the aim of minimizing the makespan. To the authors’ knowledge, this problem has not been treated as such in the operations research literature. We derive in this paper a mixed integer programming model to deal with such scheduling problem. Computational tests showed that commercial solvers are capable of solving only small instances of the problem. Therefore, we propose two ways for reducing the execution time, namely a valid inequality that strengthen the linear relaxation and an efficient heuristic procedure that provides a starting feasible solution to the solver. A substantial gain is achieved both in terms of the linear programming relaxation bound and in terms of the time to obtain an integer optimum when we use the enhanced model in conjunction with providing to the solver the solution obtained by the proposed heuristic.