Constant time algorithms for computational geometry on the reconfigurable mesh

Abstract

The reconfigurable mesh consists of an array of processors interconnected by a reconfigurable bus system. The bus system can be used to dynamically obtain various interconnection patterns among the processors. Recently, this model has attracted a lot of attention. The authors show O(1) time solutions to the following computational geometry problems on the reconfigurable mesh: all-pairs nearest neighbors, convex hull, triangulation, two-dimensional maxima, two-set dominance counting, and smallest enclosing box. All these solutions accept N planar points as input and employ an N/spl times/N reconfigurable mesh. The basic scheme employed in the implementations is to recursively find an O(1) time solution. The number of recursion levels and the size of the subproblems at each level of recursion are optimized such that the problem decomposition and the solution to the problem can be obtained in constant time. As a result, they have developed some efficient merge techniques to combine the solutions for subproblems on the reconfigurable mesh. These techniques exploit reconfigurability in nontrivial ways leading to constant time solutions using optimal size of the mesh.