Evolutionary Computation for Multifaceted Web Service Composition

<p>Automated Web service composition is one of the holy grails of service-oriented computing, since it allows users to create an application simply by specifying the inputs the resulting application should require, the outputs it should produce, and any constraints it should observe. The composition problem has been handled using a variety of techniques, from AI planning to optimisation algorithms, however no work so far has focused on handling multiple composition facets simultaneously, producing solutions that: (1) are fully functional (i.e. fully executable, with semantically-matched inputs and outputs), (2) employ a variety of composition constructs (e.g. sequential, parallel, and choice constructs), and (3) are optimised according to non-functional Quality of Service (QoS) measurements. The overall goal of this thesis is to propose hybrid Web service composition approaches that consider elements from all three facets described above when generating solutions. These approaches combine elements of AI planning and of Evolutionary Computation to allow for the creation of compositions that meet all of these requirements. Firstly, this thesis proposes two novel approaches for Web service composition with direct representations. The first one is a tree-based approach where the leaf nodes are the atomic services included in the composition and the inner nodes are the structural constructs that shape the composition workflow. The second one is a graph-based approach where the atomic services are the vertices and the edges connecting them form the composition workflow. The two approaches are compared to determine which is most suitable to the QoS-aware fully automated Web service composition problem. Secondly, this thesis proposes novel sequence-based approaches for Web service composition that use an indirect representation, i.e. they encode solutions as sequences of services. By representing solutions in this way, it is possible to initialise and evolve them without having to enforce their functional correctness. Then, before evaluating the fitness of each solution, a decoding algorithm is used to transform the sequence into the corresponding composition. The decoding algorithm builds the workflow using the ordering in the sequence as closely as possible when selecting the next service to be added, while at the same time generating a functionally correct structure. Thirdly, this thesis treats Web service composition as a multi-objective problem, generating a set of trade-off solutions the user can choose from. More specifically, it proposes multi-objective approaches to fully automated Web service composition, which means that conflicting QoS attributes are independently optimised using a variety of representations that support flexible workflow structures. Additionally, a multi-objective and fully automated memetic approach that uses a local search operator to further improve the quality of solutions is proposed. The following major contributions have been made in this thesis. Firstly, two approaches for Web service composition with direct representations were proposed. When the choice construct is not considered, the graph-based approach produces solutions of higher quality than those of the tree-based approach, but the opposite is true when the choice construct is included. Secondly, indirect representation approaches for Web service composition were proposed. These approaches perform well and can produce solutions with better quality than those found by the graph-based approach. Finally, we propose multi-objective approaches to fully automated service composition, employing different problem representations and a local search operator. The multi-objective approaches using the sequence-based representation were found to produce solutions with better overall quality.</p>

Evolutionary Computation for Multifaceted Web Service Composition

<p>Automated Web service composition is one of the holy grails of service-oriented computing, since it allows users to create an application simply by specifying the inputs the resulting application should require, the outputs it should produce, and any constraints it should observe. The composition problem has been handled using a variety of techniques, from AI planning to optimisation algorithms, however no work so far has focused on handling multiple composition facets simultaneously, producing solutions that: (1) are fully functional (i.e. fully executable, with semantically-matched inputs and outputs), (2) employ a variety of composition constructs (e.g. sequential, parallel, and choice constructs), and (3) are optimised according to non-functional Quality of Service (QoS) measurements. The overall goal of this thesis is to propose hybrid Web service composition approaches that consider elements from all three facets described above when generating solutions. These approaches combine elements of AI planning and of Evolutionary Computation to allow for the creation of compositions that meet all of these requirements. Firstly, this thesis proposes two novel approaches for Web service composition with direct representations. The first one is a tree-based approach where the leaf nodes are the atomic services included in the composition and the inner nodes are the structural constructs that shape the composition workflow. The second one is a graph-based approach where the atomic services are the vertices and the edges connecting them form the composition workflow. The two approaches are compared to determine which is most suitable to the QoS-aware fully automated Web service composition problem. Secondly, this thesis proposes novel sequence-based approaches for Web service composition that use an indirect representation, i.e. they encode solutions as sequences of services. By representing solutions in this way, it is possible to initialise and evolve them without having to enforce their functional correctness. Then, before evaluating the fitness of each solution, a decoding algorithm is used to transform the sequence into the corresponding composition. The decoding algorithm builds the workflow using the ordering in the sequence as closely as possible when selecting the next service to be added, while at the same time generating a functionally correct structure. Thirdly, this thesis treats Web service composition as a multi-objective problem, generating a set of trade-off solutions the user can choose from. More specifically, it proposes multi-objective approaches to fully automated Web service composition, which means that conflicting QoS attributes are independently optimised using a variety of representations that support flexible workflow structures. Additionally, a multi-objective and fully automated memetic approach that uses a local search operator to further improve the quality of solutions is proposed. The following major contributions have been made in this thesis. Firstly, two approaches for Web service composition with direct representations were proposed. When the choice construct is not considered, the graph-based approach produces solutions of higher quality than those of the tree-based approach, but the opposite is true when the choice construct is included. Secondly, indirect representation approaches for Web service composition were proposed. These approaches perform well and can produce solutions with better quality than those found by the graph-based approach. Finally, we propose multi-objective approaches to fully automated service composition, employing different problem representations and a local search operator. The multi-objective approaches using the sequence-based representation were found to produce solutions with better overall quality.</p>

A Binary Machine Learning Cuckoo Search Algorithm Improved by a Local Search Operator for the Set-Union Knapsack Problem

Optimization techniques, specially metaheuristics, are constantly refined in order to decrease execution times, increase the quality of solutions, and address larger target cases. Hybridizing techniques are one of these strategies that are particularly noteworthy due to the breadth of applications. In this article, a hybrid algorithm is proposed that integrates the k-means algorithm to generate a binary version of the cuckoo search technique, and this is strengthened by a local search operator. The binary cuckoo search algorithm is applied to the NP-hard Set-Union Knapsack Problem. This problem has recently attracted great attention from the operational research community due to the breadth of its applications and the difficulty it presents in solving medium and large instances. Numerical experiments were conducted to gain insight into the contribution of the final results of the k-means technique and the local search operator. Furthermore, a comparison to state-of-the-art algorithms is made. The results demonstrate that the hybrid algorithm consistently produces superior results in the majority of the analyzed medium instances, and its performance is competitive, but degrades in large instances.

An Adaptive Memetic Algorithm for Dynamic Electric Vehicle Routing Problem with Time-Varying Demands

Dynamic electric vehicle routing problem (DEVRP) is an extension of the electric vehicle routing problem (EVRP) into dynamic logistical transportation system such that the demand of customer may change over time. The routing decision of DEVRP must concern with the driving range limitation of electric vehicle (EV) in a dynamic environment since both load degree and battery capacity are variable according to the time-varying demands. This paper proposes an adaptive memetic algorithm, where a special encoding strategy, an adaptive local search operator, and an economical random immigrant scheme are employed in the framework of evolutionary algorithm, to solve DEVRP efficiently. Numeric experiments are carried out upon a series of test instances that are constructed from a stationary VRP benchmark. The computational results show that the proposed algorithm is more effective in finding high-quality solution than several peer algorithms as well as significant in improving the capacity of the routing plan of EVs in dynamic transportation environment.

An NSGA-II Algorithm with Adaptive Local Search for a New Double-Row Model Solution to a Multi-Floor Hospital Facility Layout Problem

A well-designed hospital facility layout planning process will enable improvements in operational efficiency, health outcomes, and patients’ medical experience. Older hospital facility layouts are likely to be based only on their designer’s experience, extant legal regulations, and other historical constraints. In this paper, we propose a solution to a multi-floor hospital facility layout problem in a hospital in Shanghai, China, based on a double-row model in which all departments are arranged into two rows on each floor. In this model, some fixed facilities are also taken into consideration. Two objectives, namely minimizing the total movement distance of patients and maximizing the total closeness rating score, are considered. An NSGA-II (nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II) algorithm with an adaptive local search operator has been developed to search for Pareto-optimal solutions. Experimental results show that our algorithm is able to solve model requirements successfully, the local search operator performs well, and the obtained results outperform the present layout in both the objectives.

Which Local Search Operator Works Best for the Open-Loop TSP?

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) has been widely studied for the classical closed-loop variant. However, very little attention has been paid to the open-loop variant. Most of the existing studies also focus merely on presenting the overall optimization results (gap) or focus on processing time, but do not reveal much about which operators are more efficient to achieve the result. In this paper, we present two new operators (link swap and 3–permute) and study their efficiency against existing operators, both analytically and experimentally. Results show that while 2-opt and relocate contribute equally in the closed-loop case, the situation changes dramatically in the open-loop case where the new operator, link swap, dominates the search; it contributes by 50% to all improvements, while 2-opt and relocate have a 25% share each. The results are also generalized to tabu search and simulated annealing.