Abstract
The contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it introduces a concept of fac variables in discrete Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs). fac variables can be discovered by local search techniques and powerfully exploited by MAC-based methods. On the other hand, a novel synergetic combination schema between local search paradigms, generalized arc-consistency and MAC-based algorithms is presented. By orchestrating a multiple-way flow of information between these various fully integrated search components, it often proves more competitive than the usual techniques on most classes of instances.
Part of this work was supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Nord/Pas-de-Calais Regional Council and E.C. FEDER program through the ‘Contrat de Projets État/Région (CPER) 2007-2013’ and by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the UNLOC and TUPLES projects.
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Grégoire, É., Lagniez, JM., Mazure, B. (2011). A CSP Solver Focusing on fac Variables. In: Lee, J. (eds) Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming – CP 2011. CP 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6876. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23786-7_38
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