A Treemap Based Method for Rapid Layout of Large Graphs

Abstract graphs or networks are a commonly recurring data type in many fields. In order to visualize such graphs effectively, the graph must be laid out on the screen coherently. Many algorithms exist to do this, but many of these algorithms tend to be very slow when the input graph is large. This paper presents a new approach to the large graph layout problem, which quickly generates an effective layout. This new method proceeds by generating a clustering hierarchy for the graph, applying a treemap to this hierarchy, and finally placing the graph vertices in their associated regions in the treemap. It is ideal for interactive systems where operations such as semantic zooming are to be performed, since most of the work is done in the initial hierarchy calculation, and it takes very little work to recalculate the layout. This method is also valuable in that the resulting layout can be used as the input to an iterative algorithm (e.g., a force directed method), which greatly reduces the number of iterations required to converge to a near optimal layout.