Serge Plotkin
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Emeritus
Web page: http://web.stanford.edu/~plotkin
Bio
Plotkin's focus is on optimization problems that are encountered in the context of design, management, and maintenance of broadband communication networks. Currently his main effort in this area is concentrated on development of algorithms for network topology design, routing, capacity sizing, server placement, and fair resource allocation. His goal is to develop both offline strategies that can be used during network design stage, as well as online strategies that can be applied to optimize existing network infrastructure.
Professional Education
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PhD, MIT (1988)
2023-24 Courses
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Independent Studies (13)
- Advanced Reading and Research
CS 499 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Advanced Reading and Research
CS 499P (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Curricular Practical Training
CS 390A (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Curricular Practical Training
CS 390B (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Curricular Practical Training
CS 390C (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Independent Project
CS 399 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Independent Project
CS 399P (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Independent Work
CS 199 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Independent Work
CS 199P (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Part-time Curricular Practical Training
CS 390D (Aut, Win) - Programming Service Project
CS 192 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Senior Project
CS 191 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum) - Writing Intensive Senior Research Project
CS 191W (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Advanced Reading and Research
All Publications
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COST-DISTANCE: TWO METRIC NETWORK DESIGN
SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING
2008; 38 (4): 1648-1659
View details for DOI 10.1137/050629665
View details for Web of Science ID 000261891600019
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An online throughput-competitive algorithm for multicast routing and admission control
JOURNAL OF ALGORITHMS
2005; 55 (1): 1-20
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jalgor.2004.11.001
View details for Web of Science ID 000228441600001
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A k-median algorithm with running time independent of data size
MACHINE LEARNING
2004; 56 (1-3): 61-87
View details for Web of Science ID 000222264700004
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Set K-cover algorithms for energy efficient monitoring in wireless sensor networks
3rd International Symposium on Information Processing in Sensor Networks
ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. 2004: 424–432
View details for Web of Science ID 000222055900048
- A fast, small-space clustering algorithm, independent of data size. Machine Learning Journal, Special Issue on Data Clustering 2004; 56: 61–87
- Keeping peers honest in eigentrust. 2004
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Scheduling data transfers in a network and the set scheduling problem
JOURNAL OF ALGORITHMS
2003; 48 (2): 314-332
View details for DOI 10.1016/S0196-6774(03)00054-3
View details for Web of Science ID 000184853000003
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Combining fairness with throughput: Online routing with multiple objectives
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES
2001; 63 (1): 62-79
View details for DOI 10.1006/jcss.2001.1755
View details for Web of Science ID 000171061600005
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Competitive routing of virtual circuits with unknown duration
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES
2001; 62 (3): 385-397
View details for Web of Science ID 000168461300001
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Web caching using access statistics
12th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 2001: 354–363
View details for Web of Science ID 000177257800053
- On the integrality gap of capacitated facility location problem. GSIA Working Paper 2001
- Facility location with interference. GSIA Working Paper 2001-E23 2001
- Web caching using access statistics. 2001
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Designing networks incrementally
42nd Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 2001)
IEEE COMPUTER SOC. 2001: 406–415
View details for Web of Science ID 000172225900039
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Distributed admission control, scheduling, and routing with stale information
12th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 2001: 611–619
View details for Web of Science ID 000177257800085
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Approximate majorization and fair online load balancing
12th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 2001: 384–390
View details for Web of Science ID 000177257800056
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A sublinear parallel algorithm for stable matching
THEORETICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE
2000; 233 (1-2): 297-308
View details for Web of Science ID 000084793400019
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Cost-Distance: Two metric network design
41st Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 00)
IEEE COMPUTER SOC. 2000: 624–630
View details for Web of Science ID 000165964000061
- Combining fairness with throughput: Online routing with multiple objectives. 2000
- Cost-distance: Two metric network design. Technical Report STAN-CS-TN-00-92, Stanford 2000
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Time-lapse snapshots
SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING
1999; 28 (5): 1848-1874
View details for Web of Science ID 000080710200014
- Scheduling data transfers in a network and the set scheduling problem. 1999
- Time-lapse snapshots. SIAM J. on Computing 1999; 5 (28)
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Routing and admission control in general topology networks with Poisson arrivals
7th Annual ACM/SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA 96)
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE. 1998: 236–58
View details for Web of Science ID 000073541000004
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Approximating a finite metric by a small number of tree metrics
39th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science
IEEE COMPUTER SOC. 1998: 379–388
View details for Web of Science ID 000077523900042
- Online throughput-competitive algorithm for multicast routing and admission control. 1998
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An implementation of a combinatorial approximation algorithm for minimum-cost multicommodity flow
6th International Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization (IPCO VI)
SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN. 1998: 338–352
View details for Web of Science ID 000077582600026
- An implementation of a combinatorial approximation algorithm for minimum-cost multicommodity flow. 1998
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An improved lower bound for load balancing of tasks with unknown duration
INFORMATION PROCESSING LETTERS
1997; 62 (6): 301-303
View details for Web of Science ID A1997XM07100004
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On-line routing of virtual circuits with applications to load balancing and machine scheduling
JOURNAL OF THE ACM
1997; 44 (3): 486-504
View details for Web of Science ID A1997XR56400005
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Approximation algorithms for Steiner and directed multicuts
JOURNAL OF ALGORITHMS
1997; 22 (2): 241-269
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WH54200003
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On-line load balancing of temporary tasks
JOURNAL OF ALGORITHMS
1997; 22 (1): 93-110
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WH53900004
- Online throughput-competitive algorithm for multicast routing and admission control. Technical Report 97-1592, Stanford University 1997
- Improved lower bounds for load balancing of tasks with unknown duration. Information Processing Letters 1997; 62: 301–303
- On-line machine scheduling with applications to load balancing and virtual circuit routing. J. Assoc. Comput. Mach. 1997; 3 (44): 486–504
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Routing and admission control in general topology networks with Poisson arrivals
7th Annual ACM/SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 1996: 269–278
View details for Web of Science ID A1996BE98Q00031
- Improved lower bounds for load balancing of tasks with unknown duration. Technical Report STAN-CS-TN-96-37, Stanford University 1996
- Routing and admission control in general topology networks with poisson arrivals. Technical Report STAN-CS-TR-96-1575, Stanford University 1996
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Local management of a global resource in a communication network
JOURNAL OF THE ACM
1996; 43 (1): 1-19
View details for Web of Science ID A1996UW78500001
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COMPETITIVE ROUTING OF VIRTUAL CIRCUITS IN ATM NETWORKS
IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS
1995; 13 (6): 1128-1136
View details for Web of Science ID A1995RL82200019
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FAST APPROXIMATION ALGORITHMS FOR FRACTIONAL PACKING AND COVERING PROBLEMS
MATHEMATICS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH
1995; 20 (2): 257-301
View details for Web of Science ID A1995RR11200001
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FAST APPROXIMATION ALGORITHMS FOR MULTICOMMODITY FLOW PROBLEMS
JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES
1995; 50 (2): 228-243
View details for Web of Science ID A1995QU27800005
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IMPROVED BOUNDS ON THE MAX-FLOW MIN-CUT RATIO FOR MULTICOMMODITY FLOWS
COMBINATORICA
1995; 15 (3): 425-434
View details for Web of Science ID A1995RW18000010
- Routing and admission control in general topology networks. Technical Report STAN-CS-TR-95-1548, Stanford University 1995
- Adding multiple cost constraints to combinatorial optimization problems, with applications to multicommodity flows. 1995
- Fast approximation algorithm for min-cost multicommodity flow. Technical Report STAN-CS-TN-95-19, Stanford University 1995
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FAST APPROXIMATION ALGORITHM FOR MINIMUM COST MULTICOMMODITY FLOW
6th Annual ACM/SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 1995: 493–501
View details for Web of Science ID A1995BC77V00054
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FASTER APPROXIMATION ALGORITHMS FOR THE UNIT CAPACITY CONCURRENT FLOW PROBLEM WITH APPLICATIONS TO ROUTING AND FINDING SPARSE CUTS
SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING
1994; 23 (3): 466-487
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NN24400002
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A PARALLEL ALGORITHM FOR RECONFIGURING A MULTIBUTTERFLY NETWORK WITH FAULTY SWITCHES
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTERS
1994; 43 (3): 321-326
View details for Web of Science ID A1994ND51700006
- Competitive routing of virtual circuits with unknown duration. 1994
- A sublinear parallel algorithm for stable matching. 1994
- Distributed routing and admission control of virtual circuits in general topology networks. Technical Report BL011212-940819-19TM, AT&T Bell Laboratories 1994
- Improved approximation algorithms for network design problems. 1994
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SHALLOW EXCLUDED MINORS AND IMPROVED GRAPH DECOMPOSITIONS
5th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
SIAM. 1994: 462–470
View details for Web of Science ID A1994BA19U00051
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POLYNOMIAL DUAL NETWORK SIMPLEX ALGORITHMS
MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING
1993; 60 (3): 255-276
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LV54400001
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APPROXIMATING MATCHINGS IN PARALLEL
INFORMATION PROCESSING LETTERS
1993; 46 (3): 115-118
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LK18100002
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SUBLINEAR-TIME PARALLEL ALGORITHMS FOR MATCHING AND RELATED PROBLEMS
JOURNAL OF ALGORITHMS
1993; 14 (2): 180-213
View details for Web of Science ID A1993KM60500002
- Throughput competitive on-line routing. 1993
- On-line machine scheduling with applications to load balancing and virtual circuit routing. 1993
- On-line load balancing of temporary tasks. 1993
- Improved bounds on the max-flow min-cut ratio for multicommodity flows. 1993
- A sublinear parallel algorithm for stable matching. Technical Report RJ 9327 (82440), IBM Almaden Research Center 1993
- Planar graphs, multicommodity flow, and network decomposition. 1993
- Bounds on the max-flow min-cut ratio for directed multicommodity flows. Technical Report CS-93-30, Brown University 1993
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USING SEPARATION ALGORITHMS IN FIXED DIMENSION
1ST ANNUAL SYMP ON DISCRETE ALGORITHMS ( SODA )
ACADEMIC PRESS INC JNL-COMP SUBSCRIPTIONS. 1992: 79–98
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HB82700005
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USING INTERIOR-POINT METHODS FOR FAST PARALLEL ALGORITHMS FOR BIPARTITE MATCHING AND RELATED PROBLEMS
SIAM JOURNAL ON COMPUTING
1992; 21 (1): 140-150
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HE39700011
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TIME-LAPSE SNAPSHOTS
LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
1992; 601: 154-170
View details for Web of Science ID A1992LF68200016
- Time-lapse snapshots. Technical Report STAN-CS- 92-1423, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1992
- Lecture Notes: Topics in Combinatorial Optimization. Technical Report STAN-CS-92-1447, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1992
- Fast approximation algorithms for fractional packing and covering problems. Technical Report STAN-CS-92-1419, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1992
- A parallel algorithm for reconfiguring a multibutterfly network with faulty switches. Technical Report STAN-CS-92-1427, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1992
- Time-lapse snapshots. 1992
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COMPARISON OF ACELLULAR AND WHOLE-CELL PERTUSSIS-COMPONENT DIPHTHERIA-TETANUS-PERTUSSIS VACCINES IN INFANTS
JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS
1991; 119 (2): 194-204
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FZ69200006
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COMBINATORIAL ALGORITHMS FOR THE GENERALIZED CIRCULATION PROBLEM
MATHEMATICS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH
1991; 16 (2): 351-381
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FM19800008
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Predictors of morbidity and mortality in neonates with herpes simplex virus infections. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Collaborative Antiviral Study Group.
New England journal of medicine
1991; 324 (7): 450-454
Abstract
In a controlled trial comparing acyclovir with vidarabine in the treatment of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, we found no significant difference between the treatments in adjusted mortality and morbidity. Hence, we sought to define for the entire cohort (n = 202) the clinical characteristics that best predicted the eventual outcome in these neonates.Data were gathered prospectively at 27 centers between 1981 and 1988 in infants less than one month of age who had virologically confirmed HSV infection. We examined the outcomes by multivariate analyses of 24 variables. Disease was classified in one of three categories based on the extent of the involvement at entry into the trial: infection confined to skin, eyes, or mouth; encephalitis; or disseminated infection.There were no deaths among the 85 infants with localized HSV infection. The mortality rate was significantly higher in the 46 neonates with disseminated infection (57 percent) than in the 71 with encephalitis (15 percent). In addition, the risk of death was increased in neonates who were in or near coma at entry (relative risk, 5.2), had disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (relative risk, 3.8), or were premature (relative risk, 3.7). In babies with disseminated disease, HSV pneumonitis was also associated with greater mortality (relative risk, 3.6). In the survivors, morbidity was most frequent in infants with encephalitis (relative risk, 4.4), disseminated infection (relative risk, 2.1), seizures (relative risk, 3.0), or infection with HSV type 2 (relative risk, 4.9). With HSV infection limited to the skin, eyes, or mouth, the presence of three or more recurrences of vesicles was associated with an increased risk of neurologic impairment as compared with two or fewer recurrences.
View details for PubMedID 1988830
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A controlled trial comparing vidarabine with acyclovir in neonatal herpes simplex virus infection. Infectious Diseases Collaborative Antiviral Study Group.
New England journal of medicine
1991; 324 (7): 444-449
Abstract
Despite the use of vidarabine, herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection in neonates continues to be a disease of high morbidity and mortality. We undertook a controlled trial comparing vidarabine with acyclovir for the treatment of neonatal HSV infection.Babies less than one month of age with virologically confirmed HSV infection were randomly and blindly assigned to receive either intravenous vidarabine (30 mg per kilogram of body weight per day; n = 95) or acyclovir (30 mg per kilogram per day; n = 107) for 10 days. Actuarial rates of mortality and morbidity among the survivors after one year were compared overall and according to the extent of the disease at entry into the study (infection confined to the skin, eyes, or mouth; encephalitis; or disseminated disease).After adjustment for differences between groups in the extent of disease, there was no difference between vidarabine and acyclovir in either morbidity (P = 0.83) or mortality (P = 0.27). None of the 85 babies with disease confined to the skin, eyes, or mouth died. Of the 31 babies in this group who were treated with vidarabine and followed for a year, 88 percent (22 of 25) were judged to be developing normally after one year, as compared with 98 percent (45 of 46) of the 54 treated with acyclovir (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -4 to 24). For the 71 babies with encephalitis, mortality was 14 percent with vidarabine (5 of 36) and with acyclovir (5 of 35); of the survivors, 43 percent (13 of 30) and 29 percent (8 of 28), respectively, were developing normally after one year (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -11 to 39). For the 46 babies with disseminated disease, mortality was 50 percent (14 of 28) with vidarabine and 61 percent (11 of 18) with acyclovir (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -20 to 40); of the survivors, 58 percent (7 of 12) and 60 percent (3 of 5), respectively, were judged to be developing normally after one year (95 percent confidence interval for the difference, -40 to 50). Both medications were without serious toxic effects.In this multicenter, randomized, blinded study there were no differences in outcome between vidarabine and acyclovir in the treatment of neonatal HSV infection. The study lacked statistical power to determine whether there were sizable differences within the subgroups of those with localized HSV, encephalitis, or disseminated disease.
View details for PubMedID 1988829
- Fast approximation algorithms for fractional packing and covering problems. 1991
- Approximating matching in parallel. Technical Report STAN-CS-91-1369, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1991
- Polynomial Dual Network Simplex. Technical Report STAN-CS-91-1374, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1991
- Fast approximation algorithms for multicommodity flow problem. Technical Report STAN-CS-91-1375, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University 1991
- Fast approximation algorithms for multicommodity flow problem. 1991
- Faster approximation algorithms for the unit capacity concurrent flow problem with applications to routing and finding sparse cuts. Technical Report 961, School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Cornell University 1991
- Improved Dual Network Simplex. 1990
- Using Separation Algorithms in Fixed Dimension. 1990
- Using Separation Algorithms in Fixed Dimension. Technical Report 866, School of Oper. Res. and Ind. Eng., Cornell University 1989
- Interior Point Methods in Parallel Computation. 1989
- Interior Point Methods in Parallel Computation. Technical Report STAN-CS-89-1259, Stanford University 1989
- Sticky Bits and Universality of Consensus. Technical Report STAN-CS-89-1280, Stanford University 1989
- Sticky Bits and Universality of Consensus. 1989
- Network Decomposition and Locality in Distributed Computation. 1989
- Sublinear-Time Parallel Algorithms for Matching and Related Problems. 1988
- Parallel Symmetry Breaking in Sparse Graphs. SIAM J. on Discrete Mathematics 1988; 4 (1): 434–446
- Advanced parallel and VLSI computation: Lecture notes for 6.849/18.436. 1988
- Minimum-Cost Spanning Tree as a Path-Finding Problem in a Closed Semiring. Information Processing Letters 1988; 6 (26): 291–293
- Combinatorial Algorithms for the Generalized Circulation Problem. Technical Report MIT/LCS/TM-358, M.I.T. 1988
- Combinatorial Algorithms for the Generalized Circulation Problem. 1988
- Sublinear-Time Parallel Algorithms for Matching and Related Problems. Technical Report MIT/LCS/TM-357, M.I.T. 1988
- Theory of parallel and VLSI computation: Lecture notes for 18.435/6.848. 1988
- Local Management of a Global Resource in a Communication Network. 1987
- Parallel Symmetry Breaking in Sparse Graphs. 1987
- Efficient Parallel Algorithms for (Δ+1)-Coloring and Maximal Independent Set Problems. Technical Report MIT/LCS/TM-320, M.I.T. 1987
- Approximating the size of a dynamically growing distributed network. Technical Report MIT/LCS/TM-328, M.I.T. 1987
- Parallel (Δ+1) Coloring of Constant-Degree Graphs. Information Processing Letters 1987; 4 (25): 241–245
- A Tree-Structured Architecture for Semantic Gap Reduction. Computer Architecture News 1983; 11: 34–44
- Modular, Object-Oriented Microcomputer Architecture. Microprocessing and Microprogramming 1983; 12: 153–157
- An Adaptive Approach to Suppress Powerful Impulsive Interference. Signal Processing 1982; 1: 1–9
- Real Ray Tracing in an Unmagnetized Absorptive Ionosphere. Israel Journal of Technology 1980; 18: 319–325