A fast bipartite network flow algorithm for selective assembly

Bipartite network flow problems naturally arise in applications such as selective assembly and preemptive scheduling. This paper presents fast algorithms for these problems that take advantage of special properties of the associated bipartite networks. We show a connection between selective assembly and the Earliest Due Date (EDD) scheduling rule, and we show that EDD can be implemented in linear time when the data are already sorted. Our main result uses a Monge property to get a linear-time algorithm for selective assembly with a monotone convex loss function. Key words: bipartite graphs, preemptive scheduling, selective assembly, Monge property, network flow, Earliest Due Date ∗ Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka 560, Japan. Part of this research was done while this author was visiting the University of British Columbia supported by the International Scientific Research Program (No. 06044058) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Ja...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: ORL
• Authors: Satoru Iwata, Tomomi Matsui, S. Thomas McCormick
• Keywords: Bipartite Networks, ORL 1998, Preemptive Scheduling, Selective Assembly