Improved Approximation Algorithms for the Non-preemptive Speed-scaling Problem

We are given a set of jobs, each one specified by its release date, its deadline and its processing volume (work), and a single (or a set of) speed-scalable processor(s). We adopt the standard model in speed-scaling in which if a processor runs at speed s then the energy consumption is sα per time unit, where α > 1. Our goal is to find a schedule respecting the release dates and the deadlines of the jobs so that the total energy consumption is minimized. While most previous works have studied the preemptive case of the problem, where a job may be interrupted and resumed later, we focus on the non-preemptive case where once a job starts its execution, it has to continue until its completion without any interruption. We propose improved approximation algorithms for the multiprocessor non-preemptive speed-scaling problem for particular families of instances, namely instances where all jobs have a common release date (or a common deadline), instances where all jobs are active at some time, and agreeable instances.