Single-machine scheduling with an external resource

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the complexity of single-machine scheduling problems involving an external resource, exploring various cost and duration minimization scenarios with NP-hardness proofs and algorithms.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive complexity analysis and algorithms for different classes of scheduling problems with an external resource, a novel exploration in this domain.

Findings

NP-hardness results for multiple problem classes

Pseudo-polynomial algorithms for certain cases

Complexity distinctions based on problem parameters

Abstract

This paper studies the complexity of single-machine scheduling with an external resource, which is rented for a non-interrupted period. Jobs that need this external resource are executed only when the external resource is available. There is a cost associated with the scheduling of jobs and a cost associated with the duration of the renting period of the external resource. We look at four classes of problems with an external resource: a class of problems where the renting period is budgeted and the scheduling cost needs to be minimized, a class of problems where the scheduling cost is budgeted and the renting period needs to be minimized, a class of two-objective problems where both, the renting period and the scheduling cost, are to be minimized, and a class of problems where a linear combination of the scheduling cost and the renting period is minimized. We provide a thorough complexity analysis (NP-hardness proofs and (pseudo-)polynomial algorithms) for different members of these four classes.