We analyze integer linear programs that we obtain after discretizing two-dimensional subproblems arising from a trust-region algorithm for mixed integer optimal control problems with total variation regularization. We discuss NP-hardness of the discretized problems and the connection to graph-based problems. We show that the underlying polyhedron exhibits structural restrictions in its vertices with regard to which variables can attain fractional values at the same time. Based on this property, we derive cutting planes by employing a relation to shortest-path and minimum bisection problems. We propose a branching rule and a primal heuristic which improves previously found feasible points. We validate the proposed tools with a numerical benchmark in a standard integer programming solver. We observe a significant speedup for medium-sized problems. Our results give hints for scaling toward larger instances in the future. History: Accepted by Andrea Lodi, Area Editor for Design & Analysis of Algorithms–Discrete. Funding: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [Grant MA 10080/2-1]. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2024.0680 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2024.0680 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .

We consider a class of integer linear programs (IPs) that arise as discretizations of trust-region subproblems of a trust-region algorithm for the solution of control problems, where the control input is an integer-valued function on a one-dimensional domain and is regularized with a total variation term in the objective, which may be interpreted as a penalization of switching costs between different control modes. We prove that solving an instance of the considered problem class is equivalent to solving a resource-constrained shortest-path problem (RCSPP) on a layered directed acyclic graph. This structural finding yields an algorithmic solution approach based on topological sorting and corresponding run-time complexities that are quadratic in the number of discretization intervals of the underlying control problem, the main quantifier for the size of a problem instance. We also consider the solution of the RCSPP with an [Formula: see text] algorithm. Specifically, the analysis of a Lagrangian relaxation yields a consistent heuristic function for the [Formula: see text] algorithm and a preprocessing procedure, which can be employed to accelerate the [Formula: see text] algorithm for the RCSPP without losing optimality of the computed solution. We generate IP instances by executing the trust-region algorithm on several integer optimal control problems. The numerical results show that the accelerated [Formula: see text] algorithm and topological sorting outperform a general-purpose IP solver significantly. Moreover, the accelerated [Formula: see text] algorithm is able to outperform topological sorting for larger problem instances. We also give computational evidence that the performance of the superordinate trust-region algorithm may be improved if it is initialized with a solution obtained with the combinatorial integral approximation. History: Accepted by Andrea Lodi, Area Editor for Design and Analysis of Algorithms–Discrete. Supplemental Material: The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/ijoc.2023.1294 .