Asynchronous Genetic Algorithms for Heterogeneous Networks Using Coarse-Grained Dataflow

Abstract

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are an attractive class of techniques for solving a variety of complex search and optimization problems. Their implementation on a distributed platform can provide the necessary computing power to address large-scale problems of practical importance. On heterogeneous networks, however, the performance of a global parallel GA can be limited by synchronization points during the computation, particularly those between generations. We present a new approach for implementing asynchronous GAs based on the dataflow model of computation — an approach that retains the functional properties of a global parallel GA. Experiments conducted with an air quality optimization problem and others show that the performance of GAs can be substantially improved through dataflow-based asynchrony.