9 research outputs found
Portfolio Approaches for Constraint Optimization Problems
International audienceWithin the Constraints Satisfiability Problems (CSP) context, a methodology that has proved to be particularly performant consists in using a portfolio of different constraint solvers. Nevertheless, comparatively few studies and investigations has been done in the world of Constraint Optimization Problems (COP). In this work, we provide a generalization to COP as well as an empirical evaluation of different state of the art existing CSP portfolio approaches properly adapted to deal with COP. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of portfolios even in the optimization field, and could give rise to some interesting future research
Portfolio Approaches for Constraint Optimization Problems
International audienceWithin the Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) context, a methodology that has proven to be particularly performant consists of using a portfolio of different constraint solvers. Nevertheless, comparatively few studies and investigations have been done in the world of Constraint Optimization Problems (COP). In this work, we provide a generalization to COP as well as an empirical evaluation of different state of the art existing CSP portfolio approaches properly adapted to deal with COP. The results obtained by measuring several evaluation metrics confirm the effectiveness of portfolios even in the optimization field, and could give rise to some interesting future research
SUNNY-CP and the MiniZinc Challenge
In Constraint Programming (CP) a portfolio solver combines a variety of
different constraint solvers for solving a given problem. This fairly recent
approach enables to significantly boost the performance of single solvers,
especially when multicore architectures are exploited. In this work we give a
brief overview of the portfolio solver sunny-cp, and we discuss its performance
in the MiniZinc Challenge---the annual international competition for CP
solvers---where it won two gold medals in 2015 and 2016. Under consideration in
Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP)Comment: Under consideration in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming
(TPLP
SUNNY with Algorithm Configuration
International audienceThe SUNNY algorithm is a portfolio technique originally tailored for Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs). SUNNY allows to select a set of solvers to be run on a given CSP, and was proven to be effective in the MiniZinc Challenge, i.e., the yearly international competition for CP solvers. In 2015, SUNNY was compared with other solver selectors in the first ICON Challenge on algorithm selection with less satisfactory performance. In this paper we briefly describe the new version of the SUNNY approach for algorithm selection, that was submitted to the first Open Algorithm Selection Challenge
SUNNY-CP : a Sequential CP Portfolio Solver
International audienceThe Constraint Programming (CP) paradigm allows to model and solve Constraint Satisfaction / Optimization Problems (CSPs / COPs). A CP Portfolio Solver is a particular constraint solver that takes advantage of a portfolio of different CP solvers in order to solve a given problem by properly exploiting Algorithm Selection techniques. In this work we present sunny-cp: a CP portfolio for solving both CSPs and COPs that turned out to be competitive also in the MiniZinc Challenge, the reference competition for CP solvers
Feature Selection for SUNNY: a Study on the Algorithm Selection Library
International audienceGiven a collection of algorithms, the Algorithm Selection (AS) problem consists in identifying which of them is the best one for solving a given problem. The selection depends on a set of numerical features that characterize the problem to solve. In this paper we show the impact of feature selection techniques on the performance of the SUNNY algorithm selector, taking as reference the benchmarks of the AS library (ASlib). Results indicate that a handful of features is enough to reach similar, if not better, performance of the original SUNNY approach that uses all the available features. We also present sunny-as: a tool for using SUNNY on a generic ASlib scenario
sunny-as2: Enhancing SUNNY for Algorithm Selection
SUNNY is an Algorithm Selection (AS) technique originally tailored for
Constraint Programming (CP). SUNNY enables to schedule, from a portfolio of
solvers, a subset of solvers to be run on a given CP problem. This approach has
proved to be effective for CP problems, and its parallel version won many gold
medals in the Open category of the MiniZinc Challenge -- the yearly
international competition for CP solvers. In 2015, the ASlib benchmarks were
released for comparing AS systems coming from disparate fields (e.g., ASP, QBF,
and SAT) and SUNNY was extended to deal with generic AS problems. This led to
the development of sunny-as2, an algorithm selector based on SUNNY for ASlib
scenarios. A preliminary version of sunny-as2 was submitted to the Open
Algorithm Selection Challenge (OASC) in 2017, where it turned out to be the
best approach for the runtime minimization of decision problems. In this work,
we present the technical advancements of sunny-as2, including: (i)
wrapper-based feature selection; (ii) a training approach combining feature
selection and neighbourhood size configuration; (iii) the application of nested
cross-validation. We show how sunny-as2 performance varies depending on the
considered AS scenarios, and we discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Finally,
we also show how sunny-as2 improves on its preliminary version submitted to
OASC