A PTAS for a Disc Covering Problem Using Width-Bounded Separators

In this paper, we study the following disc covering problem: Given a set of discs of various radii on the plane, find a subset of discs to maximize the area covered by exactly one disc. This problem originates from the application in digital halftoning, with the best known approximation factor being 5.83 [2]. We show that if the maximum radius is no more than a constant times the minimum radius, then there exists a polynomial time approximation scheme. Our techniques are based on the width-bounded geometric separator recently developed in [6, 5].

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: COCOON
• Authors: Zhixiang Chen, Bin Fu, Yong Tang, Binhai Zhu
• Keywords: COCOON 2005, Disc Covering Problem, Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme, Width-bounded Geometric Separator