Improved online algorithms for 1-space bounded 2-dimensional bin packing

Abstract

In this paper, we study 1-space bounded 2-dimensional bin packing and square packing. A sequence of rectangular items (square items, respectively) arrive over time, which must be packed into square bins of size 1×1. 90°-rotation of an item is allowed. When an item arrives, we must pack it into an active bin immediately without any knowledge of the future items. The objective is to minimize the total number of bins used for packing all the items in the sequence. In the 1-space bounded variant, there is only one active bin for packing the current item. If the active bin does not have enough space to pack the item, it must be closed and a new active bin is opened. Our contributions are as follows: For 1-space bounded 2-dimensional bin packing, we propose an online packing strategy with competitive ratio 5.155, surpassing the previous 8.84-competitive bound. The lower bound of competitive ratio is also improved from 2.5 to 3. Furthermore, we study 1-space bounded square packing, which is a special case of the bin packing problem. We give a 4.5-competitive packing algorithm, and prove that the lower bound of competitive ratio is at least 8/3. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.