A linear time algorithm for scheduling outforests with communication delays on three processors

Abstract

We consider the problem of scheduling n unit-length tasks on identical m parallel processors, when outforest precedence relations and unit interprocessor communication delays exist. Two algorithms have been proposed in the literature for the exact solution of this problem: a linear time algorithm for the special case m=2, and a dynamic programming algorithm which runs in O(n^2m−2). In this paper we give a new linear time algorithm for instances with m=3.