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Approximation Algorithms for Extensible Bin Packing

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Abstract

In a variation of bin packing called extensible bin packing, the number of bins is specified as part of the input, and bins may be extended to hold more than the usual unit capacity. The cost of a bin is 1 if it is not extended, and the size if it is extended. The goal is to pack a set of items of given sizes into the specified number of bins so as to minimize the total cost. Adapting ideas Grötschel et al. (1981), Grötschel et al. (1988), Karmarkar and Karp (1982), Murgolo (1987), we give a fully polynomial time asymptotic approximation scheme (FPTAAS) for extensible bin packing. We close with comments on the complexity of obtaining stronger results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering Department, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027

    E. G. Coffman Jr.

  2. Computer Science Department, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697-3435

    George S. Lueker

Authors
  1. E. G. Coffman Jr.
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  2. George S. Lueker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to George S. Lueker.

Additional information

A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the Proceedings of the 12th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms, Washington, D.C., January 2001, pp. 586-588.

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Coffman, E.G., Lueker, G.S. Approximation Algorithms for Extensible Bin Packing. J Sched 9, 63–69 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-006-5594-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10951-006-5594-5

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