Optimal Rounding of Instantaneous Fractional Flows Over Time

Abstract

A transshipment problem with demands that exceed network capacity can be solved by sending flow in several waves. How can this be done in the minimum number, T, of waves, and at minimum cost, if costs are piecewise linear convex functions of the flow? In this paper, we show that this problem can be solved using $\min\{ m,\log T,\ub{\Gamma}{U} \}$ maximum flow computations and one minimum (convex) cost flow computation. Here m is the number of arcs, $\Gamma$ is the maximum supply or demand, and U is the maximum capacity. When there is only one sink, this problem can be solved in the same asymptotic time as one minimum (convex) cost flow computation. This improves upon the previous best algorithm to solve the problem without costs by a factor of k. Our solutions start with a stationary fractional flow and use rounding to transform this into an integral flow. The rounding procedure takes O(n) time.