Propagation des contraintes tables souples Etude pr eliminaire

National audienceWCSP is a framework that has attracted a lot of at- tention during the last decade. In particular, there have been many developments of ltering approaches based on the concept of soft local consistencies such as node consistency (NC), arc consistency (AC), full directio- nal arc consistency (FDAC), existential directional arc consistency (EDAC), virtual arc consistency (VAC) and optimal soft arc consistency (OSAC). Almost all algo- rithms related to these properties have been introduced for binary weighted constraint networks, and most of the conducted experiments typically include constraint networks involving only binary and ternary constraints. In this paper, we focus on extensional soft constraints of large arity. We propose an algorithm to lter such constraints and embed it in PFC-MRDAC.Durant ces dix derni ères ann ées, de nombreuses études ont ét és r éalis ées pour le cadre WCSP (Weighted Constraint Satisfaction Problem). En particulier, ont ét é propos ées de nombreuses techniques de filtrage bas ées sur le concept de coh érence locale souple telle que la co- h érence de n oeud, et surtout la coh érence d'arc souple. Toutefois, la plupart de ces algorithmes ont ét és intro- duits pour le cas des contraintes binaires, et la plupart des exp érimentations ont ét és men ées sur des r éseaux de contraintes comportant uniquement des contraintes binaires et/ou ternaires. Dans cet article, nous nous in- t eressons aux contraintes tables souples de grande arit é. Nous proposons un premier algorithme pour filtrer ces contraintes et nous l'int égrons a PFC-MRDAC

Global constraints in distributed constraint satisfaction and optimization

Global constraints are an essential component in the efficiency of centralized constraint programming. We propose to include global constraints in distributed constraint satisfaction problem (DisCSP) and distributed constraint optimization problem (DCOP). We detail how this inclusion can be done, considering different representations for global constraints (direct, nested, binary). We explore the relation of global constraints with local consistency (both in the hard and soft cases), in particular, for generalized arc consistency (GAC). We provide experimental evidence of the benefits of global constraints on several benchmarks, both for distributed constraint satisfaction and for distributed constraint optimization. © 2013 The Author.2009-SGR-1434; Generalitat de CatalunyaPeer Reviewe

Speeding up weighted constraint satisfaction using redundant modeling.

Woo Hiu Chun.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-99).Abstracts in English and Chinese.Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Constraint Satisfaction Problems --- p.1Chapter 1.2 --- Weighted Constraint Satisfaction Problems --- p.3Chapter 1.3 --- Redundant Modeling --- p.4Chapter 1.4 --- Motivations and Goals --- p.5Chapter 1.5 --- Outline of the Thesis --- p.6Chapter 2 --- Background --- p.8Chapter 2.1 --- Constraint Satisfaction Problems --- p.8Chapter 2.1.1 --- Backtracking Tree Search --- p.9Chapter 2.1.2 --- Local Consistencies --- p.12Chapter 2.1.3 --- Local Consistencies in Backtracking Search --- p.17Chapter 2.1.4 --- Permutation CSPs --- p.19Chapter 2.2 --- Weighted Constraint Satisfaction Problems --- p.20Chapter 2.2.1 --- Branch and Bound Search --- p.23Chapter 2.2.2 --- Local Consistencies --- p.26Chapter 2.2.3 --- Local Consistencies in Branch and Bound Search --- p.32Chapter 2.3 --- Redundant Modeling --- p.34Chapter 3 --- Generating Redundant WCSP Models --- p.37Chapter 3.1 --- Model Induction for CSPs --- p.38Chapter 3.1.1 --- Stated Constraints --- p.39Chapter 3.1.2 --- No-Double-Assignment Constraints --- p.39Chapter 3.1.3 --- At-Least-One-Assignment Constraints --- p.40Chapter 3.2 --- Generalized Model Induction for WCSPs --- p.43Chapter 4 --- Combining Mutually Redundant WCSPs --- p.47Chapter 4.1 --- Naive Approach --- p.47Chapter 4.2 --- Node Consistency Revisited --- p.51Chapter 4.2.1 --- Refining Node Consistency Definition --- p.52Chapter 4.2.2 --- Enforcing m-NC* c Algorithm --- p.55Chapter 4.3 --- Arc Consistency Revisited --- p.58Chapter 4.3.1 --- Refining Arc Consistency Definition --- p.60Chapter 4.3.2 --- Enforcing m-AC*c Algorithm --- p.62Chapter 5 --- Experiments --- p.67Chapter 5.1 --- Langford's Problem --- p.68Chapter 5.2 --- Latin Square Problem --- p.72Chapter 5.3 --- Discussion --- p.75Chapter 6 --- Related Work --- p.77Chapter 6.1 --- Soft Constraint Satisfaction Problems --- p.77Chapter 6.2 --- Other Local Consistencies in WCSPs --- p.79Chapter 6.2.1 --- Full Arc Consistency --- p.79Chapter 6.2.2 --- Pull Directional Arc Consistency --- p.81Chapter 6.2.3 --- Existential Directional Arc Consistency --- p.82Chapter 6.3 --- Redundant Modeling and Channeling Constraints --- p.83Chapter 7 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.85Chapter 7.1 --- Contributions --- p.85Chapter 7.2 --- Future Work --- p.87List of Symbols --- p.88Bibliograph

On Global Warming (Softening Global Constraints)

We describe soft versions of the global cardinality constraint and the regular constraint, with efficient filtering algorithms maintaining domain consistency. For both constraints, the softening is achieved by augmenting the underlying graph. The softened constraints can be used to extend the meta-constraint framework for over-constrained problems proposed by Petit, Regin and Bessiere.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Accepted at the 6th International Workshop on Preferences and Soft Constraint

The Power of Linear Programming for Valued CSPs

A class of valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs) is characterised by a valued constraint language, a fixed set of cost functions on a finite domain. An instance of the problem is specified by a sum of cost functions from the language with the goal to minimise the sum. This framework includes and generalises well-studied constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) and maximum constraint satisfaction problems (Max-CSPs). Our main result is a precise algebraic characterisation of valued constraint languages whose instances can be solved exactly by the basic linear programming relaxation. Using this result, we obtain tractability of several novel and previously widely-open classes of VCSPs, including problems over valued constraint languages that are: (1) submodular on arbitrary lattices; (2) bisubmodular (also known as k-submodular) on arbitrary finite domains; (3) weakly (and hence strongly) tree-submodular on arbitrary trees.Comment: Corrected a few typo

Constraint-based reachability

Iterative imperative programs can be considered as infinite-state systems computing over possibly unbounded domains. Studying reachability in these systems is challenging as it requires to deal with an infinite number of states with standard backward or forward exploration strategies. An approach that we call Constraint-based reachability, is proposed to address reachability problems by exploring program states using a constraint model of the whole program. The keypoint of the approach is to interpret imperative constructions such as conditionals, loops, array and memory manipulations with the fundamental notion of constraint over a computational domain. By combining constraint filtering and abstraction techniques, Constraint-based reachability is able to solve reachability problems which are usually outside the scope of backward or forward exploration strategies. This paper proposes an interpretation of classical filtering consistencies used in Constraint Programming as abstract domain computations, and shows how this approach can be used to produce a constraint solver that efficiently generates solutions for reachability problems that are unsolvable by other approaches.Comment: In Proceedings Infinity 2012, arXiv:1302.310

Hybrid tractability of soft constraint problems

The constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) is a central generic problem in computer science and artificial intelligence: it provides a common framework for many theoretical problems as well as for many real-life applications. Soft constraint problems are a generalisation of the CSP which allow the user to model optimisation problems. Considerable effort has been made in identifying properties which ensure tractability in such problems. In this work, we initiate the study of hybrid tractability of soft constraint problems; that is, properties which guarantee tractability of the given soft constraint problem, but which do not depend only on the underlying structure of the instance (such as being tree-structured) or only on the types of soft constraints in the instance (such as submodularity). We present several novel hybrid classes of soft constraint problems, which include a machine scheduling problem, constraint problems of arbitrary arities with no overlapping nogoods, and the SoftAllDiff constraint with arbitrary unary soft constraints. An important tool in our investigation will be the notion of forbidden substructures.Comment: A full version of a CP'10 paper, 26 page