Reliability Maximization in Uncertain Graphs

Abstract: Network reliability measures the probability that a target node is reachable from a source node in an uncertain graph, i.e., a graph where every edge is associated with a probability of existence. In this paper, we investigate the novel and fundamental problem of adding a small number of edges in the uncertain network for maximizing the reliability between a given pair of nodes. We study the NP-hardness and the approximation hardness of our problem, and design effective, scalable solutions. Furthermore, we consider extended versions of our problem (e.g., multiple source and target nodes can be provided as input) to support and demonstrate a wider family of queries and applications, including sensor network reliability maximization and social influence maximization. Experimental results validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.