Skip to main content

A faster parallel algorithm for a matrix searching problem

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 447))

Abstract

We give an improved parallel algorithm for the problem of computing the tube minima of a totally monotone n × n × n matrix, an important matrix searching problem that was formalized by Aggarwal and Park and has many applications. Our algorithm runs in O(log log n) time with O(n 2/log log n) processors in the CRCW-PRAM model, whereas the previous best ran in O((log log n)2) time with O(n 2/(log log n)2) processors, also in the CRCW-PRAM model. Thus we improve the speed without any deterioration in the time × processors product. Our improved bound immediately translates into improved CRCW-PRAM bounds for the numerous applications of this problem, including string editing, construction of Huffmann codes and other coding trees, and many other combinatorial and geometric problems.

This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grants N00014-84-K-0502 and N00014-86-K-0689, the National Science Foundation under Grant DCR-8451393, and the National Library of Medicine under Grant R01-LM05118. Part of the research was done while the author was at Princeton University, visiting the DIMACS center.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. A. Aggarwal and J. Park, “Parallel searching in multidimensional monotone arrays,” to appear in J. of Algorithms. (A preliminary version appeared in Proc. 29th Annual IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, 1988, pp. 497–512.)

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. Aggarwal, D. Kravets, J. Park, and S. Sen, “Parallel searching in generalized Monge arrays with applications,” Proc. 2d Annual ACM Symposium on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures, 1990 (to appear).

    Google Scholar 

  3. A. Apostolico, M. J. Atallah, L. Larmore, and H. S. McFaddin, “Efficient Parallel Algorithms for String Editing and Related Problems,” Proc. 26th Annual Allerton Conf. on Communication, Control, and Computing, Monticello, Illinois, 1988, pp. 253–263. To appear, SIAM J. on Computing.

    Google Scholar 

  4. M. J. Atallah and S. R. Kosaraju, “An Efficient Parallel Algorithm for the Row Minima of a Totally Monotone Matrix,” Purdue CS Tech. Rept. 959 (2/28/90).

    Google Scholar 

  5. M. J. Atallah, G. L. Miller, S. R. Kosaraju, L. Larmore and S. Teng, “Constructing Trees in Parallel”, Proc. 1st Annual ACM Symp. on Parallel Algorithms and Architectures, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989, pp. 421–431.

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. P. Brent, “The Parallel Evaluation of General Arithmetic Expressions,” Journal of the ACM 21, 2, pp.201–206 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. L. L. Larmore, personal communication.

    Google Scholar 

  8. T. R. Mathies, “A Fast Parallel Algorithm to Determine Edit Distance,” Tech. Rept. CMU-CS-88-130 (1988).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Y. Shiloach and U. Vishkin, “Finding the Maximum, Merging and Sorting in a Parallel Model of Computation,” Journal of Algorithms 2, pp.88–102 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. L. Valiant. Parallelism in Comparison Problems, SIAM J. on Computing 4, 3, pp.348–355 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

John R. Gilbert Rolf Karlsson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Atallah, M.J. (1990). A faster parallel algorithm for a matrix searching problem. In: Gilbert, J.R., Karlsson, R. (eds) SWAT 90. SWAT 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 447. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52846-6_89

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-52846-6_89

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52846-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47164-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics