Data mule scheduling on a path with handling time and time span constraints

Zhihao Chen, Zhao Zhang, Yingli Ran, Yishuo Shi, Ding-Zhu Du

Abstract: In this paper, we study a data mule scheduling problem in which data mules are dispatched from a depot to serve targets located on a path. Every target sensor has a handling time, and every data mule is required to return to the depot before time span D. The goal is to minimize the number of data mules. For uniform handling time, a linear-time algorithm is presented. For non-uniform handling time, NP-hardness is proved and an approximation algorithm with a guaranteed approximation ratio is presented.