A parallel implementation on a multi-core architecture of a dynamic programming algorithm applied in cognitive radio ad hoc networks

Spectral resources allocation is a major problem in cognitive radio ad hoc networks and currently most of the research papers use meta-heuristics to solve it. On the other side, the term parallelism refers to techniques to make programs faster by performing several computations in parallel. Parallelism would be very interesting to increase the performance of real-time systems, especially for the cognitive radio ad hoc networks that interest us in this work. In this paper, we present a parallel implementation on a multi-core architecture of dynamic programming algorithm applied in cognitive radio ad hoc networks. Our simulations approve the desired results, showing significant gain in terms of execution time. The main objective is to allow a cognitive engine to use an exact method and to have better results compared to the use of meta-heuristics

A Multi-Objective Variable Neighborhood Search Algorithm for Precast Production Scheduling

In real life, precast production schedulers face the challenges of creating a reasonable schedule to satisfy multiple conflicting objectives. Practical constraints and objectives encountered in the precast production scheduling problem (PPSP) were addressed, with the goal to minimize makespan and total earliness and tardiness penalties. A multi-objective variable neighborhood search (MOVNS) algorithm was proposed and the performance was tested on 11 problem instances. Ten of these were generated using precast concrete production information taken from the literature. One real industrial problem from a precast concrete company was considered as a case study. Extensive experiments were conducted, and the spread and distance metrics were used to evaluate the quality of the non-dominated solutions set. Statistical analysis demonstrated that the result was statistically convincing. Computational results showed that the proposed MOVNS algorithm was significantly better when compared to the other nine algorithms. Therefore, the proposed MOVNS algorithm was a very competitive method for the considered PPSP

An approach for solving constrained reliability-redundancy allocation problems using cuckoo search algorithm

AbstractThe main goal of the present paper is to present a penalty based cuckoo search (CS) algorithm to get the optimal solution of reliability – redundancy allocation problems (RRAP) with nonlinear resource constraints. The reliability – redundancy allocation problem involves the selection of components' reliability in each subsystem and the corresponding redundancy levels that produce maximum benefits subject to the system's cost, weight, volume and reliability constraints. Numerical results of five benchmark problems are reported and compared. It has been shown that the solutions by the proposed approach are all superior to the best solutions obtained by the typical approaches in the literature are shown to be statistically significant by means of unpaired pooled t-test

Hybrid Swarm Intelligence Optimization Methods for Low-Embodied Energy Steel-Concrete Composite Bridges

[EN] Bridge optimization is a significant challenge, given the huge number of possible configurations of the problem. Embodied energy and cost were taken as objective functions for a box-girder steel¿concrete optimization problem considering both as single-objective. Embodied energy was chosen as a sustainable criterion to compare the results with cost. The stochastic global search TAMO algorithm, the swarm intelligence cuckoo search (CS), and sine cosine algorithms (SCA) were used to achieve this goal. To allow the SCA and SC techniques to solve the discrete bridge optimization problem, the discretization technique applying the k-means clustering technique was used. As a result, SC was found to produce objective energy function values comparable to TAMO while reducing the computation time by 25.79%. In addition, the cost optimization and embodied energy analysis revealed that each euro saved using metaheuristic methodologies decreased the energy consumption for this optimization problem by 0.584 kW·h. Additionally, by including cells in the upper and lower parts of the webs, the behavior of the section was improved, as were the optimization outcomes for the two optimization objectives. This study concludes that double composite action design on supports makes the continuous longitudinal stiffeners in the bottom flange unnecessary.The author gratefully acknowledge the fundings received by: Grant PID2020- 117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ¿ERDF A way of making Europe¿. Grant FPU-18/01592 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ¿ESF invests in your future¿ and Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION/11180056Martínez-Muñoz, D.; García, J.; Martí Albiñana, JV.; Yepes, V. (2022). Hybrid Swarm Intelligence Optimization Methods for Low-Embodied Energy Steel-Concrete Composite Bridges. Mathematics. 11(1):1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/math1101014012111

The Plant Propagation Algorithm for Discrete Optimisation

The thesis is concerned with novel Nature-Inspired heuristics for the so called NP-hard problems of optimisation. A particular algorithm which has been recently introduced and shown to be effective in continuous optimisation is the Plant Propagation Algorithm or PPA. Here, we intend to extend it to cope with combinatorial optimisation. In order to show that our extension is viable and effective, we consider three types of problems which are good representatives of the whole topic. These are the Travelling Salesman Problem or TSP, the Knapsack Problem or KP and the scheduling problem of Berth Allocation as arises in container ports or BAP. Because PPA is a population-based search heuristic, we devote a chapter to the important issue of generating good and yet computationally relatively light initial populations of solutions to kick start the search process. In the case of the TSP we revisit and extend the Strip Algorithm (SA). We introduce the 2-Part SA and show that it is better than the classical SA. We also introduce new variants such as the Adaptive SA and the Spiral SA which cope with clustered cities and instances with cities concentrated around the center of the unit square, respectively. In the case of KP we adapt the Roulette Wheel selection approach to generate solutions to start with PPA. And in the case of BAP, we introduce a number of simple heuristics which consider a schedule as a flat box with one side being the processing time and the other the position of vessels on the wharf. The heuristics try to generate schedules by avoiding overlap as much as possible. All approaches and algorithms are implemented and tested against well established algorithms. The results are recorded and discussed extensively. The thesis ends with a conclusion and ideas for further research

Solving Irregular Strip Packing Problems With Free Rotations Using Separation Lines

Solving nesting problems or irregular strip packing problems is to position polygons in a fixed width and unlimited length strip, obeying polygon integrity containment constraints and non-overlapping constraints, in order to minimize the used length of the strip. To ensure non-overlapping, we used separation lines. A straight line is a separation line if given two polygons, all vertices of one of the polygons are on one side of the line or on the line, and all vertices of the other polygon are on the other side of the line or on the line. Since we are considering free rotations of the polygons and separation lines, the mathematical model of the studied problem is nonlinear. Therefore, we use the nonlinear programming solver IPOPT (an algorithm of interior points type), which is part of COIN-OR. Computational tests were run using established benchmark instances and the results were compared with the ones obtained with other methodologies in the literature that use free rotation

A Distribution Evolutionary Algorithm for Graph Coloring

Graph Coloring Problem (GCP) is a classic combinatorial optimization problem that has a wide application in theoretical research and engineering. To address complicated GCPs efficiently, a distribution evolutionary algorithm based on population of probability models (DEA-PPM) is proposed. Based on a novel representation of probability model, DEA-PPM employs a Gaussian orthogonal search strategy to explore the probability space, by which global exploration can be realized using a small population. With assistance of local exploitation on a small solution population, DEA-PPM strikes a good balance between exploration and exploitation. Numerical results demonstrate that DEA-PPM performs well on selected complicated GCPs, which contributes to its competitiveness to the state-of-the-art metaheuristics