NETWORK MODELS:

-SHORTEST-ROUTE ALGORITHM
-MINIMAL SPANNING TREE
ALGORITHM

Jefferson S. Felipe
September 11, 2010
SHORTEST-ROUTE ALGORITHM

Shortest path/route algorithms: applied to

automatically find directions between physical
locations. It is finding the quickest way to get
from one location to another on a road map; in
this case, the vertices represent locations and the
edges represent segments of road and are
weighted by the time needed to travel that
segment.
Circles or nodes: correspond to the site location in
the network.
Arcs: represents the roads streets and highways in
the network.
Labeled node: any node for which we
have identified a path from node 1 to
that node.
Unlabeled node: any node for which no
path has yet been identified.
Permanent label node: that is whenever
the algorithm has determined the
shortest distance from node 1 to
particular node.
Tentative label node: the shortest
distance from node 1 to a particular
labeled node has not yet determined
 Figure 1. Example of a Node
Label
Value indicates that the
Value indicates that the
preceding node on the
distance from node 1 to
route from node 1 to
this node is 20
[20, 4] this node is 4.

NODE

NODE LABEL
STEPS IN FINDING SHORTEST-
ROUTE ALGORITHM
1. Assign node 1 permanently label [0,S]; S indicates that node 1 is
the starting node and the zero indicates that the distance from
node 1 to itself is zero.
2. Compute tentative labels for the nodes that can be reached directly
from node 1. The first number in each label is the direct distance
from node 1 to the node in the question; we refer to as the
preceding node value, indicates the preceding node on the route
from node 1 to node in question; thus, in this step the preceding
node value is 1 since we are only considering nodes that can be
directly reached from node 1.
3. Identify the tentatively labeled node with the smallest distance
value, and declare that the node permanently labeled. If all nodes
are permanently labeled go to step 5
4. Consider all nodes that are not permanently labeled and can be
reached directly from the new permanently labeled node identified
in step 3. Compute tentative labels for these nodes as follows:
 Steps cont.
a. If the non permanently labeled node in the question has a
tentative label, compute the sum of the distance value at the new
permanently labeled node to the node in question. If this sum is
less than the distance value for the node in question, set the
distance value for this node equal to this sum: in addition, set the
preceding node value equal to the new permanent labeled node
that provided the smaller distance. Go to step 3.
b. If the the nonpermanently labeled node in question does not have
a tentative label, a tentative label is created with a distance value
equal to the sum of the distance value at the new permanently
labeled node to the node in question. The preceding node value is
set to equal to the new permanently labeled node. Go to step 3.
5. The permanent labels identify the shortest distance from node 1
to each node and the preceding node on the shortest route. The
shortest route to a given node can be found by starting at a given
node and moving to its preceding node. Continuing this backward
movement through the network will provide the shortest route
from node 1. to the node in question.
Sample problem:
GORMAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
 Gorman Construction company has several
construction projects located throughout a
three-county area. Construction sites are
sometimes located as far as 50 miles from
Gorman’s main office. With multiple daily trips
carrying personnel, equipment, and supplies to
and from the construction locations, the costs
associated with the transportation activities are
substantial. For any given construction site, the
travel alternatives between the site and the
office can be described by a network of roads,
streets, and highways.
Figure 2. NETWORK FOR THE GORMAN
COMPANY SHORTEST-ROUTE PROBLEM

7
17
2
6 5 6
15 4
3
6
10 3 4 2
5
Gorman’s
office