A data-parallel algorithm for minimum-width tree layout

Abstract

The tree-layout problem is to compute the coordinates of nodes of a tree so that the tree, when drawn on a piece of paper, appeals to human understanding. The tree-layout problem, which seems inherently sequential at the first glance, can be solved with a data-parallel algorithm. It takes O(height x log width) time on width processors when proper communication links between processors are available, where height and width are the height and width of the tree, respectively. The layout calculated by the algorithm has the minimum width. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.