scholarly journals A Hybrid Programming Framework for Modeling and Solving Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization Problems

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Sitek ◽  
Jarosław Wikarek
Keyword(s):  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Original Method ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Scheduling Problems ◽  
Hybrid Programming ◽  
Programming Framework ◽  
Autonomous Search ◽  
Constraint Optimization Problems

This paper proposes a hybrid programming framework for modeling and solving of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) and constraint optimization problems (COPs). Two paradigms, CLP (constraint logic programming) and MP (mathematical programming), are integrated in the framework. The integration is supplemented with the original method of problem transformation, used in the framework as a presolving method. The transformation substantially reduces the feasible solution space. The framework automatically generates CSP and COP models based on current values of data instances, questions asked by a user, and set of predicates and facts of the problem being modeled, which altogether constitute a knowledge database for the given problem. This dynamic generation of dedicated models, based on the knowledge base, together with the parameters changing externally, for example, the user’s questions, is the implementation of the autonomous search concept. The models are solved using the internal or external solvers integrated with the framework. The architecture of the framework as well as its implementation outline is also included in the paper. The effectiveness of the framework regarding the modeling and solution search is assessed through the illustrative examples relating to scheduling problems with additional constrained resources.

scholarly journals Distributed Problem Solving

AI Magazine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Yeoh ◽  
Makoto Yokoo
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Constraint Optimization ◽  
Common Goal ◽  
Distributed Constraint Optimization ◽  
Distributed Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Distributed Problem Solving ◽  
Constraint Optimization Problems

Distributed problem solving is a subfield within multiagent systems, where agents are assumed to be part of a team and collaborate with each other to reach a common goal. In this article, we illustrate the motivations for distributed problem solving and provide an overview of two distributed problem solving models, namely distributed constraint satisfaction problems (DCSPs) and distributed constraint optimization problems (DCOPs), and some of their algorithms.

scholarly journals A Residual-Based Message Passing Algorithm for Constraint Satisfaction Problems

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Yan Zhao ◽  
Yan-Rong Fu ◽  
Jin-Hua Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Message Passing ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Algorithm Design ◽  
Success Probability ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Threshold Phenomena ◽  
Message Passing Algorithms

Abstract Message passing algorithms, whose iterative nature captures well complicated interactions among interconnected variables in complex systems and extracts information from the fixed point of iterated messages, provide a powerful toolkit in tackling hard computational tasks in optimization, inference, and learning problems. In the context of constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), when a control parameter (such as constraint density) is tuned, multiple threshold phenomena emerge, signaling fundamental structural transitions in their solution space. Finding solutions around these transition points is exceedingly challenging for algorithm design, where message passing algorithms suffer from a large message fluctuation far from convergence. Here we introduce a residual-based updating step into message passing algorithms, in which messages varying large between consecutive steps are given a high priority in updating process. For the specific example of model RB, a typical prototype of random CSPs with growing domains, we show that our algorithm improves the convergence of message updating and increases the success probability in finding solutions around the satisfiability threshold with a low computational cost. Our approach to message passing algorithms should be of value for exploring their power in developing algorithms to find ground-state solutions and understand the detailed structure of solution space of hard optimization problems.

scholarly journals Constraint Satisfaction by Survey Propagation

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Braunstein ◽  
Marc Mézard
Keyword(s):  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Message Passing ◽  
Statistical Physics ◽  
Belief Propagation ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Error Correcting Codes ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Probabilistic Methods ◽  
Survey Propagation ◽  
Algorithmic Strategy

Methods and analyses from statistical physics are of use not only in studying the performance of algorithms, but also in developing efficient algorithms. Here, we consider survey propagation (SP), a new approach for solving typical instances of random constraint satisfaction problems. SP has proven successful in solving random k-satisfiability (k -SAT) and random graph q-coloring (q-COL) in the “hard SAT” region of parameter space [79, 395, 397, 412], relatively close to the SAT/UNSAT phase transition discussed in the previous chapter. In this chapter we discuss the SP equations, and suggest a theoretical framework for the method [429] that applies to a wide class of discrete constraint satisfaction problems. We propose a way of deriving the equations that sheds light on the capabilities of the algorithm, and illustrates the differences with other well-known iterative probabilistic methods. Our approach takes into account the clustered structure of the solution space described in chapter 3, and involves adding an additional “joker” value that variables can be assigned. Within clusters, a variable can be frozen to some value, meaning that the variable always takes the same value for all solutions (satisfying assignments) within the cluster. Alternatively, it can be unfrozen, meaning that it fluctuates from solution to solution within the cluster. As we will discuss, the SP equations manage to describe the fluctuations by assigning joker values to unfrozen variables. The overall algorithmic strategy is iterative and decomposable in two elementary steps. The first step is to evaluate the marginal probabilities of frozen variables using the SP message-passing procedure. The second step, or decimation step, is to use this information to fix the values of some variables and simplify the problem. The notion of message passing will be illustrated throughout the chapter by comparing it with a simpler procedure known as belief propagation (mentioned in ch. 3 in the context of error correcting codes) in which no assumptions are made about the structure of the solution space. The chapter is organized as follows. In section 2 we provide the general formalism, defining constraint satisfaction problems as well as the key concepts of factor graphs and cavities, using the concrete examples of satisfiability and graph coloring.

scholarly journals CRITICALITY AND HETEROGENEITY IN THE SOLUTION SPACE OF RANDOM CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION PROBLEMS

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (18) ◽  
pp. 3479-3487 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAIJUN ZHOU
Keyword(s):  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Spin Glasses ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Critical Value ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Dynamical Heterogeneity ◽  
Ergodicity Breaking ◽  
Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems

Random constraint satisfaction problems are interesting model systems for spin-glasses and glassy dynamics studies. As the constraint density of such a system reaches certain threshold value, its solution space may split into extremely many clusters. In this work we argue that this ergodicity-breaking transition is preceded by a homogeneity-breaking transition. For random K-SAT and K-XORSAT, we show that many solution communities start to form in the solution space as the constraint density reaches a critical value αcm, with each community containing a set of solutions that are more similar with each other than with the outsider solutions. At αcm the solution space is in a critical state. The connection of these results to the onset of dynamical heterogeneity in lattice glass models is discussed.

scholarly journals Semantic Width and the Fixed-Parameter Tractability of Constraint Satisfaction Problems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubie Chen ◽  
Georg Gottlob ◽  
Matthias Lanzinger ◽  
Reinhard Pichler
Keyword(s):  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Fixed Parameter Tractability ◽  
Scheduling Problems ◽  
Fixed Parameter Tractable ◽  
Database Theory ◽  
Formal Framework ◽  
Fixed Parameter

Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) are an important formal framework for the uniform treatment of various prominent AI tasks, e.g., coloring or scheduling problems. Solving CSPs is, in general, known to be NP-complete and fixed-parameter intractable when parameterized by their constraint scopes. We give a characterization of those classes of CSPs for which the problem becomes fixed-parameter tractable. Our characterization significantly increases the utility of the CSP framework by making it possible to decide the fixed-parameter tractability of problems via their CSP formulations. We further extend our characterization to the evaluation of unions of conjunctive queries, a fundamental problem in databases. Furthermore, we provide some new insight on the frontier of PTIME solvability of CSPs. In particular, we observe that bounded fractional hypertree width is more general than bounded hypertree width only for classes that exhibit a certain type of exponential growth. The presented work resolves a long-standing open problem and yields powerful new tools for complexity research in AI and database theory.

scholarly journals An Enhanced Discrete Bees Algorithm for Resource Constrained Optimization Problems

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (64) ◽  
pp. 123-134
Author(s):  
Mohamed Amine Nemmich ◽  
Fatima Debbat ◽  
Mohamed Slimane
Keyword(s):  
Project Scheduling ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Bees Algorithm ◽  
Problem Instance ◽  
Scheduling Problem ◽  
Scheduling Problems ◽  
Resource Constrained ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Project Scheduling Problem

In this paper, we propose a novel efficient model based on Bees Algorithm (BA) for the Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem (RCPSP). The studied RCPSP is a NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem which involves resource, precedence, and temporal constraints. It has been applied to many applications. The main objective is to minimize the expected makespan of the project. The proposed model, named Enhanced Discrete Bees Algorithm (EDBA), iteratively solves the RCPSP by utilizing intelligent foraging behaviors of honey bees. The potential solution is represented by the multidimensional bee, where the activity list representation (AL) is considered. This projection involves using the Serial Schedule Generation Scheme (SSGS) as decoding procedure to construct the active schedules. In addition, the conventional local search of the basic BA is replaced by a neighboring technique, based on the swap operator, which takes into account the specificity of the solution space of project scheduling problems and reduces the number of parameters to be tuned. The proposed EDBA is tested on well-known benchmark problem instance sets from Project Scheduling Problem Library (PSPLIB) and compared with other approaches from the literature. The promising computational results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed approach for solving the RCPSP problems of various scales.

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