Title :
A new competitive algorithm for group testing
Author :
Bar-Noy, Amotz ; Hwang, F.K. ; Kessler, Ilan ; Kutten, Shay
Author_Institution :
IBM Thomas J. Watson Res. Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA
Abstract :
Algorithms for the group testing problem when there is no a priori information on the number of defective items are considered. The efficiency criterion used in the competitive ratio, which is the ratio of the number of tests required by an algorithm when there is no a priori information on the number of defective items, to the number of tests required by an optimal algorithm when the number of defective items is known in advance. A new algorithm is presented, and it is shown that the competitive ratio of this algorithm is 2. This result is an improvement over an algorithm given by D.Z. Du et al. (1991), for which the competitive ratio was 2.75. It also proves a conjecture made by them. A new application of group testing techniques for high-speed networks is discussed
Keywords :
algorithm theory; automatic testing; group theory; telecommunication networks; competitive ratio; defective items; efficiency criterion; group testing; high-speed networks; optimal algorithm; Algorithm design and analysis; High-speed networks; Performance analysis; Performance evaluation; Stochastic processes; Testing; Upper bound;
Conference_Titel :
INFOCOM '92. Eleventh Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer and Communications Societies, IEEE
Conference_Location :
Florence
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0602-3
DOI :
10.1109/INFCOM.1992.263516
