Efficient linear systolic array for the knapsack problem

Abstract

A processor-efficient systolic algorithm for the dynamic programming approach to the knapsack problem is presented in this paper. The algorithm is implemented on a linear systolic array where the number of the cells q, the cell memory storage α and the input/output requirements are design parameters. These are independent of the problem size given by the number of the objects m and the knapsack capacity c. The time complexity of the algorithm is Θ(mc/q + m) and both the time speedup and the processor efficiency are asymptotically optimal. A new procedure for the backtracking phase of the algorithm with a time complexity Θ(m) is also proposed. It is an improvement on the usual strategies used for backtracking which have a time complexity Θ(m + c).