NP-completeness of the bulk synchronous task scheduling problem and its approximation algorithm

The bulk synchronous task scheduling problem (BSSP) is known as an effective task scheduling problem for distributed-memory machines, but the time complexity of BSSP is unknown. This paper presents a proof of NP-completeness of BSSP even in the case of unit time tasks and positive integer constant communication delays. This paper also gives an approximation algorithm for BSSP in several restricted cases.

[1]  Dharma P. Agrawal,et al.  Optimal Scheduling Algorithm for Distributed-Memory Machines , 1998, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[2]  Bing Zhang,et al.  A parallel reduction algorithm with communication delay , 1996, Proceedings Second International Symposium on Parallel Architectures, Algorithms, and Networks (I-SPAN'96).

[3]  Tao Yang,et al.  DSC: Scheduling Parallel Tasks on an Unbounded Number of Processors , 1994, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[4]  Ishfaq Ahmad,et al.  On Exploiting Task Duplication in Parallel Program Scheduling , 1998, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[5]  Jeffrey D. Ullman,et al.  NP-Complete Scheduling Problems , 1975, J. Comput. Syst. Sci..

[6]  Tao Yang,et al.  On the Granularity and Clustering of Directed Acyclic Task Graphs , 1993, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[7]  Hesham H. Ali,et al.  Task scheduling in parallel and distributed systems , 1994, Prentice Hall series in innovative technology.

[8]  Victor J. Rayward-Smith,et al.  UET scheduling with unit interprocessor communication delays , 1987, Discret. Appl. Math..

[9]  Kenichi Hagihara,et al.  A task scheduling algorithm to package messages on distributed memory parallel machines , 1999, Proceedings Fourth International Symposium on Parallel Architectures, Algorithms, and Networks (I-SPAN'99).

[10]  Kenichi Hagihara,et al.  On the Performance Gap between a Task Schedule and its Corresponding Parallel Program , 1999 .

[11]  Jing-Chiou Liou,et al.  Task Clustering and Scheduling for Distributed Memory Parallel Architectures , 1996, IEEE Trans. Parallel Distributed Syst..

[12]  Yaacov Yesha,et al.  A Scheduling Principle for Precedence Graphs with Communication Delay , 1992, International Conference on Parallel Processing.

[13]  Hesham H. Ali,et al.  The Time complexity of Scheduling Interval Orders with Communication Is Polynomial , 1993, Parallel Process. Lett..

[14]  Leslie G. Valiant,et al.  A bridging model for parallel computation , 1990, CACM.

[15]  Mihalis Yannakakis,et al.  Towards an Architecture-Independent Analysis of Parallel Algorithms , 1990, SIAM J. Comput..