Abstract
We design a variation of skip lists that performs well for generally biased access sequences. Given n items, each with a positive weight wi, 1 ≤ i ≤ n, the time to access item i is O(1 + log (W/wi)), where W=∑i=1 nwi; the data structure is dynamic. We present two instantiations of biased skip lists, one of which achieves this bound in the worst case, the other in the expected case. The structures are nearly identical; the deterministic one simply ensures the balance condition that the randomized one achieves probabilistically. We use the same method to analyze both.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bagchi , A., Buchsbaum, A. & Goodrich, M. Biased Skip Lists. Algorithmica 42, 31–48 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00453-004-1138-6
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00453-004-1138-6