More efficient periodic traversal in anonymous undirected graphs

Jurek Czyzowicz, Stefan Dobrev, Leszek Ga̧sieniec, David Ilcinkas, Jesper Andreas Jansson, Ralf Klasing, Ioannis Lignos, Russell Martin, Kunihiko Sadakane, Wing Kin Sung

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceedingConference article published in proceeding or bookAcademic researchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We consider the problem of periodic graph exploration in which a mobile entity with (at most) constant memory, an agent, has to visit all n nodes of an arbitrary undirected graph G in a periodic manner. Graphs are supposed to be anonymous, that is, nodes are unlabeled. However, while visiting a node, the robot has to distinguish between edges incident to it. For each node v the endpoints of the edges incident to v are uniquely identified by different integer labels called port numbers. We are interested in the minimisation of the length of the exploration period. This problem is unsolvable if the local port numbers are set arbitrarily, see [1]. However, surprisingly small periods can be achieved when assigning carefully the local port numbers. Dobrev et al. [2] described an algorithm for assigning port numbers, and an oblivious agent (i.e., an agent with no persistent memory) using it, such that the agent explores all graphs of size n within period 10n. Providing the agent with a constant number of memory bits, the optimal length of the period was proved in [3] to be no more than 3.75n (using a different assignment of the port numbers). In this paper, we improve both these bounds. More precisely, we show a period of length at most 4 1/3n for oblivious agents, and a period of length at most 3.5n for agents with constant memory. Finally, we give the first non-trivial lower bound, 2.8n, on the period length for the oblivious case.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationStructural Information and Communication Complexity - 16th International Colloquium, SIROCCO 2009, Revised Selected Papers
Pages167-181
Number of pages15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Mar 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event16th International Colloquium on Structural Information and Communication Complexity, SIROCCO 2009 - Piran, Slovenia
Duration: 25 May 200927 May 2009

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume5869 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference16th International Colloquium on Structural Information and Communication Complexity, SIROCCO 2009
Country/TerritorySlovenia
CityPiran
Period25/05/0927/05/09

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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