LIPIcs.STACS.2023.23.pdf
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It is natural to generalize the online k-Server problem by allowing each request to specify not only a point p, but also a subset S of servers that may serve it. To initiate a systematic study of this generalization, we focus on uniform and star metrics. For uniform metrics, the problem is equivalent to a generalization of Paging in which each request specifies not only a page p, but also a subset S of cache slots, and is satisfied by having a copy of p in some slot in S. We call this problem Slot-Heterogenous Paging. In realistic settings only certain subsets of cache slots or servers would appear in requests. Therefore we parameterize the problem by specifying a family 𝒮 ⊆ 2^[k] of requestable slot sets, and we establish bounds on the competitive ratio as a function of the cache size k and family 𝒮. If all request sets are allowed (𝒮 = 2^[k]), the optimal deterministic and randomized competitive ratios are exponentially worse than for standard Paging (𝒮 = {[k]}). As a function of |𝒮| and k, the optimal deterministic ratio is polynomial: at most O(k²|𝒮|) and at least Ω(√{|𝒮|}). For any laminar family {𝒮} of height h, the optimal ratios are O(hk) (deterministic) and O(h²log k) (randomized). The special case that we call All-or-One Paging extends standard Paging by allowing each request to specify a specific slot to put the requested page in. For All-or-One Paging the optimal competitive ratios are Θ(k) (deterministic) and Θ(log k) (randomized), while the offline problem is NP-hard. We extend the deterministic upper bound to the weighted variant of All-or-One Paging (a generalization of standard Weighted Paging), showing that it is also Θ(k). Some results for the laminar case are shown via a reduction to the generalization of Paging in which each request specifies a set P of pages, and is satisfied by fetching any page from P into the cache. The optimal ratios for the latter problem (with laminar family of height h) are at most hk (deterministic) and hH_k (randomized).
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