Multimodal K-shortest viable path problem in Tehran public transportation network and its solution applying ant colony and simulated annealing algorithms

This paper treats with K-shortest viable path problem in a transportation network including multiple modes. The considered modes are metro, rapid-bus, private and walking. In this network, a viable path is one that the number of mode changes is limited and the traverse time and also the walking, metro and private usage are restricted subjected to some constraints. The traverse time is defined dependent on congestion level. Because constrained shortest path is NP-hard, we extend two metaheuristic algorithms namely GASA and BACS for the given problem. GASA is a Greedy Algorithm Simulated Annealing and BACS is a bi-direction searching Ant Colony System made by two colonies of ants. We evaluate the validation of these algorithms applying several multimodal random networks. In addition, their results are compared with CPLEX 12.1. We find that GASA is appropriate for small networks and BACS has better performance in median and large-scale networks. Our results on Tehran network also demonstrate that BACS provides better objective values than BACS ones because Tehran public transportation is sparse.     

On the analysis of optimization problems in arc-dependent networks

This paper is concerned with the design and analysis of algorithms for optimization problems in arc-dependent networks. A network is said to be arc-dependent if the cost of an arc $a$ depends upon the arc taken to enter $a$. These networks are fundamentally different from traditional networks in which the cost associated with an arc is a fixed constant and part of the input. We first study the arc-dependent shortest path (ADSP) problem, which is also known as the suffix-1 path-dependent shortest path problem in the literature. This problem has a polynomial time solution if the shortest paths are not required to be simple. The ADSP problem finds applications in a number of domains, including highway engineering, turn penalties and prohibitions, and fare rebates. In this paper, we are interested in the ADSP problem when restricted to simple paths. We call this restricted version the simple arc-dependent shortest path (SADSP) problem. We show that the SADSP problem is NP-complete. We present inapproximability results and an exact exponential algorithm for this problem. We also extend our results for the longest path problem in arc-dependent networks. Additionally, we explore the problem of detecting negative cycles in arc-dependent networks and discuss its computational complexity. Our results include variants of the negative cycle detection problem such as longest, shortest, heaviest, and lightest negative simple cycles.²     

Finding all nondominated points of multi-objective integer programs

We develop exact algorithms for multi-objective integer programming (MIP) problems. The algorithms iteratively generate nondominated points and exclude the regions that are dominated by the previously-generated nondominated points. One algorithm generates new points by solving models with additional binary variables and constraints. The other algorithm employs a search procedure and solves a number of models to find the next point avoiding any additional binary variables. Both algorithms guarantee to find all nondominated points for any MIP problem. We test the performance of the algorithms on randomly-generated instances of the multi-objective knapsack, multi-objective shortest path and multi-objective spanning tree problems. The computational results show that the algorithms work well.     

The Vehicle Routing-Allocation Problem: A unifying framework

Summary In this paper the Vehicle Routing-Allocation Problem (VRAP) is presented. In VRAP not all customers need be visited by the vehicles. However customers not visited either have to be allocated to some customer on one of the vehicle tours or left isolated. We concentrate our discussion on the Single Vehicle Routing-Allocation Problem (SVRAP). An integer linear programming formulation of SVRAP is presented and we show how SVRAP provides a unifying framework for understanding a number of the papers and problems presented in the literature. Specifically the covering tour problem, the covering salesman problem, the median tour problem, the maximal covering tour problem, the travelling salesman problem, the generalised travelling salesman problem, the selective travelling salesman problem, the prize collecting travelling salesman problem, the maximum covering/shortest path problem, the maximum population/shortest path problem, the shortest covering path problem, the median shortest path problem, the minimum covering/shortest path problem and the hierarchical network design problem are special cases/variants of SVRAP.     

Covering and connectivity constraints in loop-based formulation of material flow network design in facility layout

The shortest loop covering at least one edge of each workcenter in a manufacturing facility layout is an instance of the generalized traveling salesman problem. The optimal solution to this problem is a promising design for non-vehicle-based material handling, typical of most types of conveyors and power-and-free systems, where the length of the path is the main driver of the total investment costs. The loop formulation is usually embedded within a larger problem of the concurrent design of the loop and the input/output stations for vehicle-based material handling typical of automatically guided vehicles and autonomous delivery robots. In these systems, it is not the length, but the total flow of the loaded and empty vehicles that drives the objective function. It has been shown that the shortest loop provides an effective heuristic scheme to achieve prosperous and robust solutions for the concurrent design of the loop and input/output stations. We review and compare covering constraints formulations, provide new insight into connectivity constraints, improve the model formulation and its solution procedure, and report computational results.     

The shortest path problem with forbidden paths

We consider a variant of the constrained shortest path problem, where the constraints come from a set of forbidden paths (arc sequences) that cannot be part of any feasible solution. Two solution approaches are proposed for this variant. The first uses Aho and Corasick's keyword matching algorithm to filter paths produced by a k-shortest paths algorithm. The second generalizes Martins' deviation path approach for the k-shortest paths problem by merging the original graph with a state graph derived from Aho and Corasick's algorithm. Like Martins' approach, the second method amounts to a polynomial reduction of the shortest path problem with forbidden paths to a classic shortest path problem. Its significant advantage over the first approach is that it allows considering forbidden paths in more general shortest path problems such as the shortest path problem with resource constraints.     

Link distance and shortest path problems in the plane

This paper describes algorithms to compute Voronoi diagrams, shortest path maps, the Hausdorff distance, and the Fréchet distance in the plane with polygonal obstacles. The underlying distance measures for these algorithms are either shortest path distances or link distances. The link distance between a pair of points is the minimum number of edges needed to connect the two points with a polygonal path that avoids a set of obstacles. The motivation for minimizing the number of edges on a path comes from robotic motions and wireless communications because turns are more difficult in these settings than straight movements.Link-based Voronoi diagrams are different from traditional Voronoi diagrams because a query point in the interior of a Voronoi face can have multiple nearest sites. Our site-based Voronoi diagram ensures that all points in a face have the same set of nearest sites. Our distance-based Voronoi diagram ensures that all points in a face have the same distance to a nearest site.The shortest path maps in this paper support queries from any source point on a fixed line segment. This is a middle-ground approach because traditional shortest path maps typically support queries from either a fixed point or from all possible points in the plane.The Hausdorff distance and Fréchet distance are fundamental similarity metrics for shape matching. This paper shows how to compute new variations of these metrics using shortest paths or link-based paths that avoid polygonal obstacles in the plane.     

A penalty function heuristic for the resource constrained shortest path problem

The resource constrained shortest path problem (RCSP) consists of finding the shortest path between two nodes of an assigned network, with the constraint that traversing an arc of the network implies the consumption of certain limited resources. In this paper we propose a new heuristic for the solution of the RCSP problem in medium and large scale networks. It is based on the extension to the discrete case of the penalty function heuristic approach for the fast ε-approximate solution of difficult large-scale continuous linear programming problems. Computational experience on test instances has shown that the proposed penalty function heuristic (PFH) is very effective in the solution of medium and large scale RCSP instances. For all the tests reported it provides very good upper bounds (in many cases the optimal solution) in less than 26 iterations, where each iteration requires only the computation of a shortest path.     

An integer linear programming formulation and heuristics for the minmax relative regret robust shortest path problem

The well-known Shortest Path problem (SP) consists in finding a shortest path from a source to a destination such that the total cost is minimized. The SP models practical and theoretical problems. However, several shortest path applications rely on uncertain data. The Robust Shortest Path problem (RSP) is a generalization of SP. In the former, the cost of each arc is defined by an interval of possible values for the arc cost. The objective is to minimize the maximum relative regret of the path from the source to the destination. This problem is known as the minmax relative regret RSP and it is NP-Hard. We propose a mixed integer linear programming formulation for this problem. The CPLEX branch-and-bound algorithm based on this formulation is able to find optimal solutions for all instances with 100 nodes, and has an average gap of 17 % on the instances with up to 1,500 nodes. We also develop heuristics with emphasis on providing efficient and scalable methods for solving large instances for the minmax relative regret RSP, based on Pilot method and random-key genetic algorithms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to propose a linear formulation, an exact algorithm and metaheuristics for the minmax relative regret RSP.     

Multiple UAVs path planning algorithms: a comparative study

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used in team for detecting targets and keeping them in its sensor range. There are various algorithms available for searching and monitoring targets. The complexity of the search algorithm increases if the number of nodes is increased. This paper focuses on multi UAVs path planning and Path Finding algorithms. Number of Path Finding and Search algorithms was applied to various environments, and their performance compared. The number of searches and also the computation time increases as the number of nodes increases. The various algorithms studied are Dijkstra’s algorithm, Bellman Ford’s algorithm, Floyd-Warshall’s algorithm and the AStar algorithm. These search algorithms were compared. The results show that the AStar algorithm performed better than the other search algorithms. These path finding algorithms were compared so that a path for communication can be established and monitored.     

Symmetry helps: Bounded bi-directional dynamic programming for the elementary shortest path problem with resource constraints

When vehicle routing problems with additional constraints, such as capacity or time windows, are solved via column generation and branch-and-price, it is common that the pricing subproblem requires the computation of a minimum cost constrained path on a graph with costs on the arcs and prizes on the vertices. A common solution technique for this problem is dynamic programming. In this paper we illustrate how the basic dynamic programming algorithm can be improved by bounded bi-directional search and we experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of the enhancement proposed. We consider as benchmark problems the elementary shortest path problems arising as pricing subproblems in branch-and-price algorithms for the capacitated vehicle routing problem, the vehicle routing problem with distribution and collection and the capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows.     

应急救援物资紧缺的配送车辆路径选择研究

针对应急救援物资总量紧缺不能全部满足各点需求量的实际情形,以单个需求点最大缺货量最小为目标,建立基于单个配送中心、车辆数目有限和带时间窗的应急救援物资配送车辆路径选择模型,并讨论了三种不同缺货情形下模型的求解。对于车辆按最短路径行驶也无法在救援时间内到达导致需求点缺货的情形,删除这些需求点的需求量后,如果剩余需求点的需求量不大于物资总量且车辆足够多,可转化为车辆最短路径问题求解;对于物资紧缺无法满足所有需求且车辆足够多的情形,设计时间复杂性为O(mn²)的精确算法A^*求解,其中m和n分别为车辆数和需求点数;对于物资紧缺且车辆数目不足无法把全部物资送达需求点的情形,设计时间复杂性为O(n²)的近似算法GA^*求解,并分析了算法GA^*的近似比。最后结合云南彝良县地震灾区局部路网进行实例分析,验证模型和算法的有效性。     

Minimum Paths in Directed Graphs

This paper considers the problem of finding paths from a fixed node to all other nodes of a directed graph which minimise a function defined on the paths. Under certain assumptions a characterisation of optimal paths is derived. Two algorithms which are generalisations of standard shortest path methods are then given.     

The pickup and delivery problem with transfers: Formulation and a branch-and-cut solution method

In this paper, a strict formulation of a generalization of the classical pickup and delivery problem is presented. Here, we add the flexibility of providing the option for passengers to transfer from one vehicle to another at specific locations. As part of the mathematical formulation, we include transfer nodes where vehicles may interact interchanging passengers. Additional variables to keep track of customers along their route are considered. The formulation has been proven to work correctly, and by means of a simple example instance, we conclude that there exist some configurations in which a scheme allowing transfers results in better quality optimal solutions. Finally, a solution method based on Benders decomposition is addressed. We compare the computational effort of this application with a straight branch and bound strategy; we also provide insights to develop more efficient set partitioning formulations and associated algorithms for solving real-size problems.     

Shortest path games

We study cooperative games that arise from the problem of finding shortest paths from a specified source to all other nodes in a network. Such networks model, among other things, efficient development of a commuter rail system for a growing metropolitan area. We motivate and define these games and provide reasonable conditions for the corresponding rail application. We show that the core of a shortest path game is nonempty and satisfies the given conditions, but that the Shapley value for these games may lie outside the core. However, we show that the shortest path game is convex for the special case of tree networks, and we provide a simple, polynomial time formula for the Shapley value in this case. In addition, we extend our tree results to the case where users of the network travel to nodes other than the source. Finally, we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for shortest paths to remain optimal in dynamic shortest path games, where nodes are added to the network sequentially over time.     

A deep-submicron steiner tree

An A-Tree is a rectilinear Steiner tree in which every sink is connected to a driver by a shortest length path, while simultaneously minimizing total wire length. This paper presents a polynomial approximation algorithm for the generalized version of an A-Tree problem with upper-bounded delays along each path from the driver to the sinks and with restrictions on the number of Steiner nodes. We refer to it as “Deep-submicron Steiner tree”, as minimizing the number of Steiner nodes is crucial for signal integrity issues in deep-submicron Very-Large-Scaled-Integrated-circuit (VLSI) designs. The idea behind the algorithm is to control two parameters in order to construct a feasible (with respect to the paths delays and the number of Steiner nodes) tree of small cost.The simulation results show the high efficiency of our approach.     

A shortest path-based approach to the multileaf collimator sequencing problem

The multileaf collimator sequencing problem is an important component in effective cancer treatment delivery. The problem can be formulated as finding a decomposition of an integer matrix into a weighted sequence of binary matrices whose rows satisfy a consecutive ones property. Minimising the cardinality of the decomposition is an important objective and has been shown to be strongly NP-hard, even for a matrix restricted to a single column or row. We show that in this latter case it can be solved efficiently as a shortest path problem, giving a simple proof that the one-row problem is fixed-parameter tractable in the maximum intensity. We develop new linear and constraint programming models exploiting this result. Our approaches significantly improve the best known for the problem, bringing real-world sized problem instances within reach of exact algorithms.     

Graceful reassignment of excessively long communications paths in networks

Modern broadband telecommunications networks transport diverse classes of traffic through flexible end-to-end communications paths. For instance, Internet Protocol (IP) networks with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) carry traffic through label switched paths. These flexible paths are often changed in real, or near-real, time in response to congestion and failures detected in the network. As a result, over time, some of these communications paths become excessively long (referred to as out-of-kilter), leading to poor service performance and waste of network resources. An effective reassignment scheme may require reassignment of communications paths with acceptable length (referred to as in-kilter) in order to generate spare capacity on certain links for the out-of-kilter paths. A graceful reassignment solution provides an ordered sequence of reassignments that satisfies the following: (i) the total number of reassigned communications paths does not exceed a specified limit, (ii) no temporary capacity violations are incurred on any network link during the execution of the sequence of reassignments (reassignments are executed sequentially, one at a time), (iii) a communications path is reassigned only as a unit without being split among multiple alternate routes (iv) all reassigned communications paths will be in-kilter, (v) none of the reassignments of communications paths that were originally in-kilter can be excluded from the specified solution without resulting in some capacity violation, and (vi) the sequence of reassignments approximately optimizes a predefined objective, such as maximizing the number of reassigned out-of-kilter communications paths or maximizing the total load reassigned from out-of-kilter communications paths. The resulting problem is formulated as a multi-period, multi-commodity network flow problem with integer variables. We present a search heuristic that takes advantage of certain problem properties to find subsequences of reassignments that become part of the solution, without performing an exhaustive search. Each subsequence reassigns at least one out-of-kilter communication path.     

A trust region method for solving the decentralized static output feedback design problem

The shortest-paths problem is a fundamental problem in graph theory and finds diverse applications in various fields. This is why shortest path algorithms have been designed more thoroughly than any other algorithm in graph theory. A large number of optimization problems are mathematically equivalent to the problem of finding shortest paths in a graph. The shortest-path between a pair of vertices is defined as the path with shortest length between the pair of vertices. The shortest path from one vertex to another often gives the best way to route a message between the vertices. This paper presents anO(n ²) time sequential algorithm and anO(n ²/p+logn) time parallel algorithm on EREW PRAM model for solving all pairs shortest paths problem on circular-arc graphs, wherep andn represent respectively the number of processors and the number of vertices of the circular-arc graph.