What does an approximation solution to a braodcasting algorithm mean... I have been working on an algorithm which says that it has a solution of 12 approximation. What does it actually mean.. Can anybody please help me...
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You're going to have to be more specific. Just the word broadcast itself could mean one of several things, and there are tons of algorithms that could be used. – Geobits Oct 17 '13 at 18:07
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In simple(ish) words it means that the algorithm is guaranteed to produce a result which is within a factor of 12 of the optimum solution.
For your example, if the aim is to reduce the broadcast latency then a 12 factor approximation would have latency at worst 12 times worse than the latency of the optimum solution.
The reason why, what may appear a poor ratio, might actually be useful in reality is that it may not be possible in any practical way to actually calculate the optimum, or it may simply take too long for a particular application - hence the best approximation may well be very useful.
It is also worth noting that the 'factor 12' is the worst case - i.e. it is guaranteed it will not be worse that 12 times the optimum. In practice it may be that results are often much better than this worst case.
Mick
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