Exact and Heuristic Solution Approaches for Busy Time Minimization in Temporal Bin Packing

Given a set of jobs (or items), each of which being characterized by its resource demand and its lifespan, and a sufficiently large number of identical servers (or bins), the busy time minimization problem (BTMP) requires to find a feasible schedule (i.e., a jobs-to-servers assignment) having minimum overall power-on time. Although being linked to the … Read more

A Combinatorial Flow-based Formulation for Temporal Bin Packing Problems

We consider two neighboring generalizations of the classical bin packing problem: the temporal bin packing problem (TBPP) and the temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups (TBPP-FU). In both cases, the task is to arrange a set of given jobs, characterized by a resource consumption and an activity window, on homogeneous servers of limited capacity. To … Read more

Worst-Case Analysis of Heuristic Approaches for the Temporal Bin Packing Problem with Fire-Ups

We consider the temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups (TBPP-FU), a branch of operations research recently introduced in multi-objective cloud computing. In this scenario, any item is equipped with a resource demand and a lifespan meaning that it requires the bin capacity only during that time interval. We then aim at finding a schedule minimizing … Read more

Theoretical Insights and a New Class of Valid Inequalities for the Temporal Bin Packing Problem with Fire-Ups

The temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups (TBPP-FU) is a two-dimensional packing problem where one geometric dimension is replaced by a time horizon. The given items (jobs) are characterized by a resource consumption, that occurs exclusively during an activity interval, and they have to be placed on servers so that the capacity constraint is respected … Read more

Variable and constraint reduction techniques for the temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups

The aim of this letter is to design and computationally test several improvements for the compact integer linear programming (ILP) formulations of the temporal bin packing problem with fire-ups (TBPP-FU). This problem is a challenging generalization of the classical bin packing problem in which the items, interpreted as jobs of given weight, are active only … Read more

Compact Integer Linear Programming Formulations for the Temporal Bin Packing Problem with Fire-Ups

In this article we examine a specific version of the temporal bin packing problem (TBPP) that occurs in job-to-server scheduling. The TBPP represents a generalization of the well-known bin packing problem (BPP) with respect to an additional time dimension, and it requires to find the minimum number of bins (servers) to accommodate a given list … Read more

Mathematical Models and Approximate Solution Approaches for the Stochastic Bin Packing Problem

We consider the (single-stage) stochastic bin packing problem (SBPP) which is based on a given list of items the sizes of which are represented by stochastically independent random variables. The SBPP requires to determine the minimum number of unit capacity bins needed to pack all the items, such that for each bin the probability of … Read more

A Note on the Integrality Gap of Cutting and Skiving Stock Instances: Why 4/3 is an Upper Bound for the Divisible Case?

In this paper, we consider the (additive integrality) gap of the cutting stock problem (CSP) and the skiving stock problem (SSP). Formally, the gap is defined as the difference between the optimal values of the ILP and its LP relaxation. For both, the CSP and the SSP, this gap is known to be bounded by … Read more

Integer linear programming formulations for the minimum connectivity inference problem and model reduction principles

The minimum connectivity inference (MCI) problem represents an NP-hard generalization of the well-known minimum spanning tree problem. Given a set of vertices and a finite collection of subsets (of this vertex set), the MCI problem requires to find an edge set of minimal cardinality so that the vertices of each subset are connected. Although the … Read more

A Stochastic Bin Packing Approach for Server Consolidation with Conflicts

The energy consumption of large-scale data centers or server clusters is expected to grow significantly in the next couple of years contributing to up to 13 percent of the worlwide energy demand in 2030. As the involved processing units require a disproportional amount of energy when they are idle, underutilized or overloaded, balancing the supply … Read more