Selection, Routing and Sorting on the Star Graph

We consider the problems of selection, routing and sorting on an n-star graph (with n! nodes), an interconnection network which has been proven to possess many special properties. We identify a tree like subgraph (which we call as a '(k, l, k) chain network') of the star graph which enables us to design efficient algorithms for the above mentioned problems. We present an algorithm that performs a sequence of n prefix computations in O(n2) time. This algorithm is used as a subroutine in our other algorithms. In addition we offer an efficient deterministic sorting algorithm that runs in O(n3lg n) steps. Though an algorithm with the same time bound has been proposed before, our algorithm is very simple and is based on a different approach. We also show that sorting can be performed on the n star graph in time O(n3) and that selection of a set of uniformly distributed n keys can be performed in O(n2) time with high probability. Finally, we also present a deterministic (non oblivious) routing algorithm that realizes any permutation in O(n3) steps on the n-star graph. There exists an algorithm in the literature that can perform a single prefix computation in O(n lg n) time. The best known previous algorithm for sorting has a run time of O(n3 lg n) and is deterministic. To our knowledge, the problem of selection has not been considered before on the star graph.