A hybrid Lagrangean heuristic with GRASP and path-relinking for set K-covering

The set multicovering or set K-covering problem is an extension of the classical set covering problem, in which each object is required to be covered at least K times. The problem finds applications in the design of communication networks and in computational biology. We describe a GRASP with path-relinking heuristic for the set K-covering problem, … Read more

A biased random-key genetic algorithm for routing and wavelength assignment

The problem of routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks consists in routing a set of lightpaths and assigning a wavelength to each of them, such that lightpaths whose routes share a common fiber are assigned different wavelengths. This problem was shown to be NP-hard when the objective is to … Read more

Path-relinking intensification methods for stochastic local search algorithms

Path-relinking is major enhancement to heuristic search methods for solving combinatorial optimization problems, leading to significant improvements in both solution quality and running times. We review its fundamentals and implementation strategies, as well as advanced hybridizations with more elaborate metaheuristic schemes such as genetic algorithms and scatter search. Numerical examples are discussed and algorithms compared … Read more

Exploiting run time distributions to compare sequential and parallel stochastic local search algorithms

Run time distributions or time-to-target plots are very useful tools to characterize the running times of stochastic algorithms for combinatorial optimization. We further explore run time distributions and describe a new tool to compare two algorithms based on stochastic local search. For the case where the running times of both algorithms fit exponential distributions, we … Read more

GRASP: Advances and applications

GRASP is a multi-start metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization problems, in which each iteration consists basically of two phases: construction and local search. The construction phase builds a feasible solution, whose neighborhood is investigated until a local minimum is found during the local search phase. The best overall solution is kept as the result. In this … Read more

GRASP

GRASP is a multi-start metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization problems, in which each iteration consists basically of two phases: construction and local search. The construction phase builds a feasible solution, whose neighborhood is investigated until a local minimum is found during the local search phase. The best overall solution is kept as the result. An intensification … Read more

A genetic algorithm with random keys for routing and wavelength assignment

The problem of routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks consists in routing a set of lightpaths and assigning a wavelength to each of them, such that lightpaths whose routes share a common fiber are assigned different wavelengths. This problem was shown to be NP-hard when the objective is to … Read more

Efficient implementations of heuristics for routing and wavelength assignment

The problem of Routing and Wavelength Assignment in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical networks consists in routing a set of lightpaths and assigning a wavelength to each of them, such that lightpaths whose routes share a common fiber are assigned to different wavelengths. When the objective is to minimize the total number of wavelengths used, … Read more

TTTPLOTS: A perl program to create time-to-target plots

This papers describes a perl language program to create time-to-target solution value plots for measured CPU times that are assumed to fit a shifted exponential distribution. This is often the case in local search based heuristics for combinatorial optimization, such as simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, iterated local search, tabu search, WalkSAT, and GRASP. Such plots … Read more

Parallel Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures

A GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure) is a metaheuristic for producing good-quality solutions of combinatorial optimization problems. It is usually implemented with a construction procedure based on a greedy randomized algorithm followed by local search. In this Chapter, we survey parallel implementations of GRASP. We describe simple strategies to implement independent parallel GRASP heuristics … Read more