A note on iterative process for G-multi degree reduction of Bézier curves

In the paper [A. Rababah, S. Mann, Iterative process for G²-multi degree reduction of Bézier curves, Applied Mathematics and Computation 217 (2011) 8126-8133], Rababah and Mann proposed an iterative method for multi-degree reduction of Bézier curves with C¹ and G²-continuity at the endpoints. In this paper, we provide a theoretical proof for the existence of the unique solution in the first step of the iterative process, while the proof in their paper applies only in some special cases. Also, we give a complete convergence proof for the iterative method. We solve the problem by using convex quadratic optimization.     

On G continuous interpolatory composite quadratic Bézier curves

In the paper the interpolation by G² continuous composite quadratic Bézier curves is studied. It is shown that the interpolation problem can be naturally posed correctly in such a way that a smooth curve f is approximated up to the order 4, i.e., one order more than in the corresponding function case. In addition, the tangent direction of f is approximated up to order 3, and the curvature up to order 2.     

Approximate Bézier curves by cubic LN curves

In order to derive the offset curves by using cubic Bézier curves with a linear field of normal vectors (the so-called LN Bézier curves) more efficiently, three methods for approximating degree n Bézier curves by cubic LN Bézier curves are considered, which includes two traditional methods and one new method based on Hausdorff distance. The approximation based on shifting control points is equivalent to solving a quadratic equation, and the approximation based on L₂ norm is equivalent to solving a quartic equation. In addition, the sufficient and necessary condition of optimal approximation based on Hausdorff distance is presented, accordingly the algorithm for approximating the degree n Bézier curves based on Hausdorff distance is derived. Numerical examples show that the error of approximation based on Hausdorff distance is much smaller than that of approximation based on shifting control points and L₂ norm, furthermore, the algorithm based on Hausdorff distance is much simple and convenient.     

Approximating conic sections by constrained Bézier curves of arbitrary degree

In this paper, an algorithm for approximating conic sections by constrained Bézier curves of arbitrary degree is proposed. First, using the eigenvalues of recurrence equations and the method of undetermined coefficients, some exact integral formulas for the product of two Bernstein basis functions and the denominator of rational quadratic form expressing conic section are given. Then, using the least squares method, a matrix-based representation of the control points of the optimal Bézier approximation curve is deduced. This algorithm yields an explicit, arbitrary-degree Bézier approximation of conic sections which has function value and derivatives at the endpoints that match the function value and the derivatives of the conic section up to second order and is optimal in the _L2$L_2$ norm. To reduce error, the method can be combined with a curve subdivision scheme. Computational examples are presented to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm for a whole curve or its part generated by a subdivision.     

Multi-degree reduction of tensor product Bézier surfaces with general boundary constraints

We propose an efficient approach to the problem of multi-degree reduction of rectangular Bézier patches, with prescribed boundary control points. We observe that the solution can be given in terms of constrained bivariate dual Bernstein polynomials. The complexity of the method is O(mn₁n₂) with m ? min(m₁, m₂), where (n₁, n₂) and (m₁, m₂) is the degree of the input and output Bézier surface, respectively. If the approximation—with appropriate boundary constraints—is performed for each patch of several smoothly joined rectangular Bézier surfaces, the result is a composite surface of global C^r continuity with a prescribed r ? 0. In the detailed discussion, we restrict ourselves to r ∈ {0, 1}, which is the most important case in practical application. Some illustrative examples are given.     

Design and G connection of developable surfaces through Bézier geodesics

For potential application in shoemaking and garment manufacture industries, the G¹ connection of (1, k) developable surfaces with abutting geodesic is important. In this paper, we discuss the developable surface which contains a given 3D Bézier curve as geodesic and prove the corresponding conclusions in detail. Primarily we study G¹ connection of developable surfaces through abutting cubic Bézier geodesics and give some examples.     

On the conditions for the coincidence of two cubic Bézier curves

In a recent article, Wang et al. [2] derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the coincidence of two cubic Bézier curves with non-collinear control points. The condition reads that their control points must be either coincident or in reverse order. We point out that this uniqueness of the control points for polynomial cubics is a straightforward consequence of a previous and more general result of Barry and Patterson, namely the uniqueness of the control points for rational Bézier curves. Moreover, this uniqueness applies to properly parameterized polynomial curves of arbitrary degree.     

Conditions for coincidence of two cubic Bézier curves

This paper presents a necessary and sufficient condition for judging whether two cubic Bézier curves are coincident: two cubic Bézier curves whose control points are not collinear are coincident if and only if their corresponding control points are coincident or one curve is the reversal of the other curve. However, this is not true for degree higher than 3. This paper provides a set of counterexamples of degree 4.     

Circle approximation using LN Bézier curves of even degree and its application

We present an approximation method of circular arcs using linear-normal (LN) Bézier curves of even degree, four and higher. Our method achieves G^m$G^m$ continuity for endpoint interpolation of a circular arc by a LN Bézier curve of degree 2m  , for m=2,3$m=2,3$. We also present the exact Hausdorff distance between the circular arc and the approximating LN Bézier curve. We show that the LN curve has an approximation order of 2m+2$2m+2$, for m=2,3$m=2,3$. Our approximation method can be applied to offset approximation, so obtaining a rational Bézier curve as an offset approximant. We derive an algorithm for offset approximation based on the LN circle approximation and illustrate our method with some numerical examples.     

Improved bounds on the magnitude of the derivative of rational Bézier curves

In this paper we derive some new derivative bounds of rational Bézier curves according to some existing identities and inequalities. The comparison of the new bounds with some existing ones is also presented.     

Shape analysis of cubic trigonometric Bézier curves with a shape parameter

For the cubic trigonometric polynomial curves with a shape parameter (TB curves, for short), the effects of the shape parameter on the TB curve are made clear, the shape features of the TB curve are analyzed. The necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for these curves having single or double inflection points, a loop or a cusp, or be locally or globally convex. The results are summarized in a shape diagram of TB curves, which is useful when using TB curves for curve and surface modeling. Furthermore the influences of shape parameter on the shape diagram and the ability for adjusting the shape of the curve are shown by graph examples, respectively.     

Simultaneous approximation for Bézier variant of Szász-Mirakyan-Durrmeyer operators

We study the rate of convergence in simultaneous approximation for the Bézier variant of Szász-Mirakyan-Durrmeyer operators by using the decomposition technique of functions of bounded variation.     

Approximate dynamic programming with Bézier Curves/Surfaces for Top-percentile Traffic Routing

Multi-homing is used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to connect to the Internet via different network providers. This study develops a routing strategy under multi-homing in the case where network providers charge ISPs according to top-percentile pricing (i.e. based on the θth highest volume of traffic shipped). We call this problem the Top-percentile Traffic Routing Problem (TpTRP).Solution approaches based on Stochastic Dynamic Programming require discretization in state space, which introduces a large number of state variables. This is known as the curse of dimensionality in state space. To overcome this, in previous work we have suggested to use approximate dynamic programming (ADP) to construct value function approximations, which allow us to work in continuous state space. The resulting ADP model provides well performing routing policies for medium sized instances of the TpTRP. In this work we extend the ADP model, by using Bézier Curves/Surfaces to obtain continuous-time approximations of the time-dependent ADP parameters. This modification reduces the number of regression parameters to estimate, and thus accelerates the efficiency of parameter training in the solution of the ADP model, which makes realistically sized TpTRP instances tractable. We argue that our routing strategy is near optimal by giving bounds.     

Sample-based polynomial approximation of rational Bézier curves

We present an iteration method for the polynomial approximation of rational Bézier curves. Starting with an initial Bézier curve, we adjust its control points gradually by the scheme of weighted progressive iteration approximations. The L_p-error calculated by the trapezoidal rule using sampled points is used to guide the iteration approximation. We reduce the L_p-error by a predefined factor at every iteration so as to obtain the best approximation with a minimum error. Numerical examples demonstrate the fast convergence of our method and indicate that results obtained using the L₁-error criterion are better than those obtained using the L₂-error and L_∞-error criteria.     

On the rates of convergence of BBH-Kantorovich operators and their Bézier variant

In the present paper we consider the Bézier variant of BBH-Kantorovich operators J_n,αf for functions f measurable and locally bounded on the interval [0, ∞) with α ? 1. By using the Chanturiya modulus of variation we estimate the rate of pointwise convergence of J_n,αf(x) at those x > 0 at which the one-sided limits f(x+), f(x−) exist. The very recent result of Chen and Zeng (2009) [L. Chen, X.M. Zeng, Rate of convergence of a new type Kantorovich variant of Bleimann-Butzer-Hahn Operators, J. Inequal. Appl. 2009 (2009) 10. Article ID 852897] is extended to more general classes of functions.     

The fairing and G1 continuity of quartic C‐Bézier curves

Quartic C‐Bézier curves possess similar properties with the traditional Bézier curves including terminal property, convex hull property, affine invariance, and approaching the shape of their control polygons as the shape parameter α decreases. In this paper, by adjusting the shape parameter α on the basis of the utilization of the least square approximation and nonlinear functional minimization together with fairing of a quartic C‐Bézier curve with G¹ continuity of quartic C‐Bézier curve segments, we develop a fairing and G¹ continuity algorithm for any given stitching coefficients λ_k(k = 1,2,…,n ? 1). The shape parameters α_i(i=1, 2, …, n) can be adjusted by the value of control points. The curvature of the resulting quartic C‐Bézier curve segments after fairing is more uniform than before. Moreover, six examples are provided in the paper to demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm and illustrate how to apply this algorithm to the computer‐aided design/computer‐aided manufacturing modeling systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

G cubic transition between two circles with shape control

This paper describes a method for joining two circles with an S-shaped or with a broken back C-shaped transition curve, composed of at most two spiral segments. In highway and railway route design or car-like robot path planning, it is often desirable to have such a transition. It is shown that a single cubic curve can be used for blending or for a transition curve preserving G²$G^2$ continuity with local shape control parameter and more flexible constraints. Provision of the shape parameter and flexibility provide freedom to modify the shape in a stable manner which is an advantage over previous work by Meek, Walton, Sakai and Habib.     

Analysis of an M/G/∞ queue with batch arrivals and batch-dedicated servers

We analyze an M/G/∞ queue with batch arrivals, where jobs belonging to a batch have to be processed by the same server. The number of jobs in the system is characterized as a compound Poisson random variable through a scaling of the original arrival and batch size processes.     

Approximating tensor product Bézier surfaces with tangent plane continuity

We present a simple method for degree reduction of tensor product Bézier surfaces with tangent plane continuity in L₂-norm. Continuity constraints at the four corners of surfaces are considered, so that the boundary curves preserve endpoints continuity of any order α. We obtain matrix representations for the control points of the degree reduced surfaces by the least-squares method. A simple optimization scheme that minimizes the perturbations of some related control points is proposed, and the surface patches after adjustment are C^∞ continuous in the interior and G¹ continuous at the common boundaries. We show that this scheme is applicable to surface patches defined on chessboard-like domains.     

Algorithm for a general discrete k-out-of-n: G system subject to several types of failure with an indefinite number of repairpersons

A discrete k-out-of-n: G system with multi-state components is modelled by means of block-structured Markov chains. An indefinite number of repairpersons are assumed and PH distributions for the lifetime of the units and for the repair time are considered. The units can undergo two types of failures, repairable or non-repairable. The repairability of the failure can depend on the time elapsed up to failure. The system is modelled and the stationary distribution is built by using matrix analytic methods. Several performance measures of interest, such as the conditional probability of failure for the units and for the system, are built into the transient and stationary regimes. Rewards are included in the model. All results are shown in a matrix algorithmic form and are implemented computationally with Matlab. A numerical example of an optimization problem shows the versatility of the model.