We consider the problem in which n points arrive online over time, and upon arrival must be irrevocably assigned to one of k clusters where the objective is the standard k-median objective. Lower-bound instances show that for this problem no online algorithm can achieve a competitive ratio bounded by any function of n. Thus we turn to a beyond worst-case analysis approach, namely we assume that the online algorithm is a priori provided with a predicted budget B that is an upper bound to the optimal objective value (e.g., obtained from past instances). Our main result is an online algorithm whose competitive ratio (measured against B) is solely a function of k. We also give a lower bound showing that the competitive ratio of every algorithm must depend on k.
@InProceedings{moseley_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2024.20, author = {Moseley, Benjamin and Newman, Heather and Pruhs, Kirk}, title = {{Online k-Median with Consistent Clusters}}, booktitle = {Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2024)}, pages = {20:1--20:22}, series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)}, ISBN = {978-3-95977-348-5}, ISSN = {1868-8969}, year = {2024}, volume = {317}, editor = {Kumar, Amit and Ron-Zewi, Noga}, publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik}, address = {Dagstuhl, Germany}, URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2024.20}, URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-210133}, doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2024.20}, annote = {Keywords: k-median, online algorithms, learning-augmented algorithms, beyond worst-case analysis} }
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