Solving Hierarchical Constraints over Finite Domains with Local Search

Author

Martin Henz, National University of Singapore
Roland H.C. Yap, National University of Singapore
Yun Fong LIM, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Seet Chong Lua, National University of Singapore
J. Paul Walser, i2 Technologies (Germany)
Xiao Ping Shi, Motorola (Singapore)

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

3-2004

Abstract

Many real world problems have requirements and constraints which conflict with each other. One approach for dealing with such over-constrained problems is with constraint hierarchies. In the constraint hierarchy framework, constraints are classified into ranks, and appropriate solutions are selected using a comparator which takes into account the constraints and their ranks. In this paper, we present a local search solution to solving hierarchical constraint problems over finite domains (HCPs). This is an extension of local search for over-constrained integer programs WSAT(OIP) to constraint hierarchies and general finite domain constraints.The motivation for this work arose from solving large airport gate allocation problems. We show how gate allocation problems can be formulated as HCPs using typical gate allocation constraints. Using the gate allocation benchmarks, we investigate how constraint heirarchy selection strategies and the problem formulation using two models: a 0–1 linear constraint hierarchy model and a nonlinear finite domain constraint hierarchy model.

Keywords

hierarchical constraints, finite domain constraints, over-constrained problems, airport gate allocation

Discipline

Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods | Operations and Supply Chain Management

Research Areas

Operations Management

Publication

Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence

Volume

40

Issue

3/4

First Page

283

Last Page

301

ISSN

1012-2443

Identifier

10.1023/B:AMAI.0000012870.93810.37

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Citation

Henz, Martin; Yap, Roland H.C.; LIM, Yun Fong; Lua, Seet Chong; Walser, J. Paul; and Shi, Xiao Ping. Solving Hierarchical Constraints over Finite Domains with Local Search. (2004). Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence. 40, (3/4), 283-301.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/877

Copyright Owner and License

Publisher

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1023/B:AMAI.0000012870.93810.37