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The online \(k\)-server problem with max-distance objective

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Abstract

This paper studies the online \(k\)-server problem with max-distance objective, i.e. minimizing the maximum distance moved among all the servers. For this objective, we prove that no deterministic online algorithm has a competitive ratio better than \(k\). We also analyze several classical algorithms for two special cases and show that some algorithms do have a competitive ratio of \(k\) and hence optimal. Consequently, we conjecture that any metric space allows for a deterministic \(k\)-competitive \(k\)-server algorithm with max-distance objective.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 71071123, 61221063, 71172197 and 71131006 and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University under Grant IRT1173 and Central University Fund of Sichuan University under Grant skgt201202.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Yinfeng Xu, Hongmei Li & Changzheng He

  2. State Key Lab for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, China

    Yinfeng Xu

  3. Service Management Institute, Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Li Luo

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  1. Yinfeng Xu
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  2. Hongmei Li
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  3. Changzheng He
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  4. Li Luo
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Correspondence to Yinfeng Xu.

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Xu, Y., Li, H., He, C. et al. The online \(k\)-server problem with max-distance objective. J Comb Optim 29, 836–846 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-013-9621-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-013-9621-0

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