A Universal Scheme for Dynamic Partitioned Shortest Path Index: Survey, Improvement, and Experiments

2023-10-12

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of real-time shortest-path queries on dynamic large-scale graphs (e.g., road networks, social graphs), focusing on modeling and optimizing Partitioned Shortest Paths (PSP) indexing under dynamic updates. We propose the first holistic, three-dimensional PSP framework—unifying algorithm design, graph partitioning methodology, and boundary-handling strategies. A structured taxonomy of graph partitioning schemes is established; two novel boundary strategies—No-boundary and Post-boundary—are introduced for the first time. Furthermore, we formulate a scalable, analyzable dynamic PSP indexing paradigm grounded in graph partitioning theory, dynamic index maintenance, and multi-dimensional performance modeling. Based on this foundation, we design and implement five new PSP indexes, empirically demonstrating their superior query and update efficiency over state-of-the-art methods on both real-world and synthetic graphs. Our work provides a systematic design methodology and an empirical benchmark for shortest-path indexing on dynamic graphs.

Abstract

Shortest Path (SP) computation is a fundamental operation in many real-life applications such as navigation on road networks, link analysis on social networks, etc. These networks tend to be massive, and graph partitioning is commonly leveraged to scale up the SP algorithms. However, the Partitioned Shortest Path (PSP) index has never been systematically investigated. Moreover, few studies have explored its index maintenance in dynamic networks. In this paper, we survey the dynamic PSP index and propose a universal scheme for its design and analysis. Specifically, we first review the SP algorithms and put forward a novel structure-based partition method classification to facilitate the selection of partition methods. Furthermore, we summarize the existing Pre-boundary PSP strategy and propose two novel strategies (No-boundary and Post-boundary) to improve its index performance. Lastly, we propose a universal scheme with three dimensions (SP algorithm, partition method, and PSP strategy) to facilitate the analysis and design of the PSP index. Based on this scheme, we put forward five new PSP indexes with a prominent query or update efficiency performance. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the PSP index and the effectiveness of the proposed techniques, with valuable guidance on the PSP index design.

Problem

• Dynamic Partitioned Shortest Path Index
• Universal scheme for PSP design
• Improving index performance in networks

Innovation

• Dynamic Partitioned Shortest Path Index
• Novel partition method classification
• Universal scheme with three dimensions