3,796 research outputs found
PasMoQAP: A Parallel Asynchronous Memetic Algorithm for solving the Multi-Objective Quadratic Assignment Problem
Multi-Objective Optimization Problems (MOPs) have attracted growing attention
during the last decades. Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) have
been extensively used to address MOPs because are able to approximate a set of
non-dominated high-quality solutions. The Multi-Objective Quadratic Assignment
Problem (mQAP) is a MOP. The mQAP is a generalization of the classical QAP
which has been extensively studied, and used in several real-life applications.
The mQAP is defined as having as input several flows between the facilities
which generate multiple cost functions that must be optimized simultaneously.
In this study, we propose PasMoQAP, a parallel asynchronous memetic algorithm
to solve the Multi-Objective Quadratic Assignment Problem. PasMoQAP is based on
an island model that structures the population by creating sub-populations. The
memetic algorithm on each island individually evolve a reduced population of
solutions, and they asynchronously cooperate by sending selected solutions to
the neighboring islands. The experimental results show that our approach
significatively outperforms all the island-based variants of the
multi-objective evolutionary algorithm NSGA-II. We show that PasMoQAP is a
suitable alternative to solve the Multi-Objective Quadratic Assignment Problem.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Accepted at Conference on Evolutionary
Computation 2017 (CEC 2017
Bin Packing and Related Problems: General Arc-flow Formulation with Graph Compression
We present an exact method, based on an arc-flow formulation with side
constraints, for solving bin packing and cutting stock problems --- including
multi-constraint variants --- by simply representing all the patterns in a very
compact graph. Our method includes a graph compression algorithm that usually
reduces the size of the underlying graph substantially without weakening the
model. As opposed to our method, which provides strong models, conventional
models are usually highly symmetric and provide very weak lower bounds.
Our formulation is equivalent to Gilmore and Gomory's, thus providing a very
strong linear relaxation. However, instead of using column-generation in an
iterative process, the method constructs a graph, where paths from the source
to the target node represent every valid packing pattern.
The same method, without any problem-specific parameterization, was used to
solve a large variety of instances from several different cutting and packing
problems. In this paper, we deal with vector packing, graph coloring, bin
packing, cutting stock, cardinality constrained bin packing, cutting stock with
cutting knife limitation, cutting stock with binary patterns, bin packing with
conflicts, and cutting stock with binary patterns and forbidden pairs. We
report computational results obtained with many benchmark test data sets, all
of them showing a large advantage of this formulation with respect to the
traditional ones
A nonmonotone GRASP
A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is an itera-
tive multistart metaheuristic for difficult combinatorial optimization problems. Each
GRASP iteration consists of two phases: a construction phase, in which a feasible
solution is produced, and a local search phase, in which a local optimum in the
neighborhood of the constructed solution is sought. Repeated applications of the con-
struction procedure yields different starting solutions for the local search and the
best overall solution is kept as the result. The GRASP local search applies iterative
improvement until a locally optimal solution is found. During this phase, starting from
the current solution an improving neighbor solution is accepted and considered as the
new current solution. In this paper, we propose a variant of the GRASP framework that
uses a new “nonmonotone” strategy to explore the neighborhood of the current solu-
tion. We formally state the convergence of the nonmonotone local search to a locally
optimal solution and illustrate the effectiveness of the resulting Nonmonotone GRASP
on three classical hard combinatorial optimization problems: the maximum cut prob-
lem (MAX-CUT), the weighted maximum satisfiability problem (MAX-SAT), and
the quadratic assignment problem (QAP)
Communities of Minima in Local Optima Networks of Combinatorial Spaces
In this work we present a new methodology to study the structure of the
configuration spaces of hard combinatorial problems. It consists in building
the network that has as nodes the locally optimal configurations and as edges
the weighted oriented transitions between their basins of attraction. We apply
the approach to the detection of communities in the optima networks produced by
two different classes of instances of a hard combinatorial optimization
problem: the quadratic assignment problem (QAP). We provide evidence indicating
that the two problem instance classes give rise to very different configuration
spaces. For the so-called real-like class, the networks possess a clear modular
structure, while the optima networks belonging to the class of random uniform
instances are less well partitionable into clusters. This is convincingly
supported by using several statistical tests. Finally, we shortly discuss the
consequences of the findings for heuristically searching the corresponding
problem spaces
Fitness Landscape-Based Characterisation of Nature-Inspired Algorithms
A significant challenge in nature-inspired algorithmics is the identification
of specific characteristics of problems that make them harder (or easier) to
solve using specific methods. The hope is that, by identifying these
characteristics, we may more easily predict which algorithms are best-suited to
problems sharing certain features. Here, we approach this problem using fitness
landscape analysis. Techniques already exist for measuring the "difficulty" of
specific landscapes, but these are often designed solely with evolutionary
algorithms in mind, and are generally specific to discrete optimisation. In
this paper we develop an approach for comparing a wide range of continuous
optimisation algorithms. Using a fitness landscape generation technique, we
compare six different nature-inspired algorithms and identify which methods
perform best on landscapes exhibiting specific features.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to the 11th International Conference on
Adaptive and Natural Computing Algorithm
Parallel Hybrid Trajectory Based Metaheuristics for Real-World Problems
G. Luque, E. Alba, Parallel Hybrid Trajectory Based Metaheuristics for Real-World Problems, In Proceedings of Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems, pp. 184-191, 2-4 September, 2015, Taipei, Taiwan, IEEE PressThis paper proposes a novel algorithm combining path relinking with a set of cooperating trajectory based parallel algorithms to yield a new metaheuristic of enhanced search features. Algorithms based on the exploration of the neighborhood of a single solution, like simulated annealing (SA), have offered accurate results for a large number of real-world problems in the past. Because of their trajectory based nature, some advanced models such as the cooperative one are competitive in academic problems, but still show many limitations in addressing large scale instances. In addition, the field of parallel models for trajectory methods has not deeply been studied yet (at least in comparison with parallel population based models). In this work, we propose a new hybrid algorithm which improves cooperative single solution techniques by using path relinking, allowing both to reduce the global execution time and to improve the efficacy of the method. We applied here this new model using a large benchmark of instances of two real-world NP-hard problems: DNA fragment assembly and QAP problems, with competitive results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
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