A linear algorithm for a minimax location of a path-shaped facility with a specific length in a weighted tree network

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of locating a path-shaped facility of a specific size on a weighted tree network. The criterion for optimality used in this paper is the minimax criterion in which the weighted distance to the farthest vertex from the facility is minimised. The minimax criterion gives acceptable results from the point of view of the fast response for the clients who are located far away from the facility. This location problem usually has applications in computer science, information science, and operations research. An O(n) time algorithm is proposed for finding the optimal location of a path-shaped facility of a bounded length on a weighted tree network, where n is the number of vertices in the tree.