An enhanced pinwheel algorithm for the bamboo garden trimming problem

Abstract: In the Bamboo Garden Trimming Problem (BGT), there is a garden populated by n bamboos b(1), b(2), ... , b(n)$ with daily growth rates h(1) >= h(2) >= ... >= h(n). We assume that the initial heights of bamboos are zero. A gardener is in charge of the bamboos and trims them to height zero according to some schedule. The objective is to design a perpetual schedule of trimming so as to maintain the height of the bamboo garden as low as possible. We consider the so-called discrete BGT variant, where the gardener is allowed to trim only one bamboo at the end of each day. For discrete BGT, the current state-of-the-art approximation algorithm exploits the relationship between BGT and the classical Pinwheel scheduling problem and provides a solution that guarantees a 2-approximation ratio. We propose an alternative Pinwheel scheduling algorithm with approximation ratio converging to 12/7 when sum h(j) > > h(1). Also, we show that the approximation ratio of the proposed algorithm never exceeds 32000/16947 approximately 1.888. This is the first algorithm reaching a ratio strictly inferior to 19/10.