A tabu search based approach for graph layout

This paper describes an automated tabu search based method for drawing general graph layouts with straight lines. To our knowledge, this is the first time tabu methods have been applied to graph drawing. We formulated the task as a multi-criteria optimization problem with a number of metrics which are used in a weighted fitness function to measure the aesthetic quality of the graph layout. The main goal of this work is to speed up the graph layout process without sacrificing layout quality. To achieve this, we use a tabu search based method that goes through a predefined number of iterations to minimize the value of the fitness function. Tabu search always chooses the best solution in the neighbourhood. This may lead to cycling, so a tabu list is used to store moves that are not permitted, meaning that the algorithm does not choose previous solutions for a set period of time. We evaluate the method according to the time spent to draw a graph and the quality of the drawn graphs. We give experimental results applied on random graphs and we provide statistical evidence that our method outperforms a fast search-based drawing method (hill climbing) in execution time while it produces comparably good graph layouts. We also demonstrate the method on real world graph datasets to show that we can reproduce similar results in a real world setting.     

An efficient approach to determine cell formation,cell layout and intracellular machine sequence in cellular manufacturing systems

Cellular manufacturing systems (CMS) are used to improve production flexibility and efficiency. They involve the identification of part families and machine cells so that intercellular movement is minimized and the utilization of the machines within a cell is maximized. Previous research has focused mainly on cell formation problems and their variants; however, only few articles have focused on more practical and complicated problems that simultaneously consider the three critical issues in the CMS-design process, i.e., cell formation, cell layout, and intracellular machine sequence. In this study, a two-stage mathematical programming model is formulated to integrate the three critical issues with the consideration of alternative process routings, operation sequences, and production volume. Next, because of the combinatorial nature of the above model, an efficient tabu search algorithm based on a generalized similarity coefficient is proposed. Computational results from test problems show that our proposed model and solution approach are both effective and efficient. When compared to the mathematical programming approach, which takes more than 112 h (LINGO) and 1139 s (CPLEX) to solve a set of ten test instances, the proposed algorithm can produce optimal solutions for the same set of test instances in less than 12 s.     

基于遗传算法的毕业设计编排解决方法

针对高校毕业设计编排问题因为一直没有得到重视而使得导师和学生之间存在很多问题得不到解决,文章通过分层的方法,将毕业设计编排问题由常见的五维组合规划模型分解为两次三维组合,缩减了问题的规模。同时针对用传统遗传算法求解所存在的问题,提出对偶体编码方案,并利用交替进化的方法,对多个目标逐个循环优化。结果表明,这种方法很好地实现了模式定理,大大提高了求解速度。     

Unidirectional loop network layout by a LP heuristic and design of telecommunications networks

In this paper, we present a new linear programming-based heuristic procedure for optimal design of the unidirectional loop network layout problem. The heuristic procedure employs a linear programming formulation and solves the problem using the flow matrix of the unidirectional loop problem. To find an optimal solution, one can either generate all possible solutions or use a branch-and-bound procedure. But, both above methods require very high computational time and computer memory for larger problems. The heuristic developed in this paper is quite fast and obtains near optimal solutions. The heuristic procedure was tested on 16 different problems selected from the literature. The results showed that in most cases optimal—and in a few cases near optimal—solutions were obtained with very little computational time. Several examples are discussed. We also demonstrate that the above problem formulation and approach can be used to solve a special class of telecommunication networks where a set of computers (or processors) are attached by unidirectional point-to-point links around a loop.     

Reliability optimization of topology communication network design using an improved ant colony optimization

Network design problem is a well-known NP-hard problem which involves the selection of a subset of possible links or a network topology in order to minimize the network cost subjected to the reliability constraint. To overcome the problem, this paper proposes a new efficiency algorithm based on the conventional ant colony optimization (ACO) to solve the communication network design when considering both economics and reliability. The proposed method is called improved ant colony optimizations (IACO) which introduces two addition techniques in order to improve the search process, i.e. neighborhood search and re-initialization process. To show its efficiency, IACO is applied to test with three different topology network systems and its results are compared with those obtained results from the conventional approaches, i.e. genetic algorithm (GA), tabu search algorithm (TSA) and ACO. Simulation results, obtained these test problems with various constraints, shown that the proposed approach is superior to the conventional algorithms both solution quality and computational time.     

Facility layout design using virtual multi-agent system

This paper presents a novel approach to the facility layout design problem based on multi-agent society where agents’ interactions form the facility layout design. Each agent corresponds to a facility with inherent characteristics, emotions, and a certain amount of money, forming its utility function. An agent’s money is adjusted during the learning period by a manager agent while each agent tries to tune the parameters of its utility function in such a way that its total layout cost can be minimized in competition with others. The agents’ interactions are formed based on market mechanism. In each step, an unoccupied location is presented to all applicant agents, for which each agent proposes a price proportionate to its utility function. The agent proposing a higher price is selected as the winner and assigned to that location by an appropriate space-filling curve. The proposed method utilizes the fuzzy theory to establish each agent’s utility function. In addition, it provides a simulation environment using an evolutionary algorithm to form different interactions among the agents and makes it possible for them to experience various strategies. The experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves a lower total layout cost compared with state of the art methods.     

A heuristic procedure for the integrated facility layout design and flow assignment problem

We present an efficient iterative heuristic procedure for solving the integrated layout design and product flow assignment problem. The layout design decisions involve planar location of unequal-area machines with duplicates. The product flows are assigned to machines according to the product processing routes. The integrated decision problem is a nonlinear mixed integer model which cannot be efficiently solved using classical methods for large problems. We propose a novel integrated heuristic procedure based on the alternating heuristic, a perturbation algorithm and sequential location heuristic. Since the alternating heuristic between facility layout design and product-machine assignment sub-problems terminates with local optima, we developed a perturbation algorithm based on assignment decisions. The results of an experimental study show that proposed procedure is both efficient and effective in identifying quality solutions for small to very large-sized problems.     

A tabu search-based algorithm for the fuzzy clustering problem

The Fuzzy Clustering Problem (FCP) is a mathematical program which is difficult to solve since it is nonconvex, which implies possession of many local minima. The fuzzy C-means heuristic is the widely known approach to this problem, but it is guaranteed only to yield local minima. In this paper, we propose a new approach to this problem which is based on tabu search technique, and aims at finding a global solution of FCP. We compare the performance of the algorithm with the fuzzy C-means algorithm.     

基于分层抽样的模拟禁忌混合智能优化算法TSII

将分层抽样随机模拟与禁忌搜索结合,构造了TS II模拟禁忌混合智能优化算法。随机模拟采用缩减方差、加速收敛的分层抽样技术,保证抽样遍布于整个搜索空间,避免禁忌搜索路径往返重复,克服禁忌搜索对初始解的依赖,算法同时使用禁忌表与希望表,将分散搜索与集中搜索相结合,增强算法的并行处理能力,提高寻优的效率与精度。Benchmark问题评测结果显示出了该算法的有效性。     

A particle swarm optimization algorithm for the multiple-level warehouse layout design problem

Warehouse operation and management is one of the essential parts of manufacturing and service operations. The warehouse layout problem is a key to warehouse operations. Generally, warehouse layout design models attempt to optimize different objectives such as the orientation of storage racks, the allocation of space among competing uses, the number of cranes, the overall configuration of the facility, etc. The warehousing strategies can be classified as distribution-type, production-type and contract-type warehouse strategies. In this study, a distribution-type warehouse considered that various type products are collected from different suppliers for storing in the warehouse for a determined period and for delivery to different customers. The aim of the study is to design a multiple-level warehouse shelf configuration which minimizes the annual carrying costs. The turnover rates of the products are classified and they are considered while putting/picking them to/from shelves regarding the distances between the shelves and docks. Since proposed mathematical model was shown to be NP-hard, a particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) as a novel heuristic was developed for determining the optimal layout.     

Integrated layout design of supports and structures

Based on the previously proposed techniques for the integrated layout optimization of multi-component system, this paper is to demonstrate further developments and applications of the related techniques in the integrated layout design of supports and structures. The design procedure mainly consists of two parts. Firstly, the layout of the supports is described with the positions of movable support components on the specified boundary of the design domain. These components are partially embedded into the design domain and subjected to the applied boundary conditions. Secondly, the layout optimization of the support components and the structure is carried out. Locations of the support components and the pseudo-densities defined on the density points are assumed as geometrical and topological design variables, respectively. Geometrical constraints are imposed to avoid the overlap of multiple components. The technique of embedded meshing is employed to adapt the topology optimization to the variation of the finite element mesh caused by the component movement. Varieties of numerical examples are finally tested to validate the proposed method. Both surface load and self-weight load are taken into account. More complexities of partially supported components are introduced in the presented examples.     

A revised electromagnetism-like mechanism for layout design of reconfigurable manufacturing system

The layout design problem is one of the most important issues for manufacturing system design and control. A revised electromagnetism-like mechanism (REM) is proposed in this paper for the layout design of reconfigurable manufacturing systems utilizing automated guided vehicle. First, the formal model considering both loaded and empty flows is given. Then the REM is developed to solve the proposed model. In the REM, particles are encoded discretely. The charge of a particle is calculated according the total material handling cost of the particle. In the local search procedure, variable neighbourhood search strategy based on Hamming distance is adopted. In the moving procedure, the particles are moved according to the ordering of each element. To verify the effect of the proposed method, several computation cases are carried out. The computation results show that the proposed method is able to get optimal solutions for small scale problems and near optimal solutions within limited computation time for large scale problems. This indicates that the proposed method is effective and efficient.     

Facilities layout design by genetic algorithms

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a class of adaptive search techniques which have gained popularity in optimisation. In particular they have successfully been applied to NP hard problems such as those resulted in mathematical modelling of facilities design problems. The typical steps required to implement GAs are: encoding of feasible solutions into chromosomes using a representation method, evaluation of fitness function, setting of GAs parameters, selection strategy, genetic operators, and criteria to terminate the process. This paper reports on finding of a research in design of a GA solving the quadratic assignment formulation of equal and unequal-sized facilities layout problems. Comparison is made with solutions of several test problems reported in the literature.     

A graph coloring heuristic using partial solutions and a reactive tabu scheme

Most of the recent heuristics for the graph coloring problem start from an infeasible k-coloring (adjacent vertices may have the same color) and try to make the solution feasible through a sequence of color exchanges. In contrast, our approach (called FOO-PARTIALCOL), which is based on tabu search, considers feasible but partial solutions and tries to increase the size of the current partial solution. A solution consists of k disjoint stable sets (and, therefore, is a feasible, partial k-coloring) and a set of uncolored vertices. We introduce a reactive tabu tenure which substantially enhances the performance of both our heuristic as well as the classical tabu algorithm (called TABUCOL) proposed by Hertz and de Werra [Using tabu search techniques for graph coloring, Computing 1987;39:345–51]. We will report numerical results on different benchmark graphs and we will observe that FOO-PARTIALCOL, though very simple, outperforms TABUCOL on some instances, provides very competitive results on a set of benchmark graphs which are known to be difficult, and outperforms the best-known methods on the graph flat300_28_0. For this graph, FOO-PARTIALCOL finds an optimal coloring with 28 colors. The best coloring achieved to date uses 31 colors. Algorithms very close to TABUCOL are still used as intensification procedures in the best coloring methods, which are evolutionary heuristics. FOO-PARTIALCOL could then be a powerful alternative. In conclusion FOO-PARTIALCOL is one of the most efficient simple local search coloring methods yet available.     

An interactive program assists layout planning

An interactive computer program is described for layout planning. This program is a construction routine. It is written in BASIC and has been tested on an Apple II microcomputer. The program generates multi-story layouts of up to three floors with sixty-four departments per floor.     

Stiffener layout design for plate structures by growing and branching tree model (application to vibration-proof design)

From the inspiration of branching systems in nature, this paper suggests a new and direct topology optimization method for the generation of stiffener layout patterns for plate structures by introducing the growing and branching tree model. The growth technique begins with the growing of ground baby stiffeners around a given set of seeds. Each stiffener extends by obeying growing and branching rules like those for trees. A potential for branching is assigned to stiffeners whose cross-sectional areas are greater than a specified threshold dimension, and the best growing direction of a branch is selected depending on the effect of the extension of a new branch. During the growing of a stiffener, the volume growth rate is controlled so as to make it possible to create new branches and to eliminate degenerated stiffeners. The growing process stops when the stiffener volume reaches a given upper limit. Some numerical examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, and the influence of various factors on the method is discussed.     

Integrating data envelopment analysis and analytic hierarchy for the facility layout design in manufacturing systems

Facility layout design (FLD) has a very important effect on the performance of a manufacturing system. The concept of FLD is usually considered as a multiobjective problem. For this reason, a layout generation and its evaluation are often challenging and time consuming due to their inherent multiple objectives in nature and their data collection process. In addition, an effective facility layout evaluation procedure necessitates the consideration of qualitative criteria, e.g., flexibility in volume and variety and quality related to the product and production, as well as quantitative criteria such as material handling cost, adjacency score, shape ratio, and material handling vehicle utilization in the decision process. This paper presents a decision-making methodology based on data envelopment analysis (DEA), which uses both quantitative and qualitative criteria, for evaluating FLD. The criteria that are to be minimized are viewed as inputs whereas the criteria to be maximized are considered as outputs. A computer-aided layout-planning tool, VisFactory, is adopted to facilitate the layout alternative design process as well as to collect quantitative data by using exact and vague data by means of fuzzy set theory. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is then applied to collect qualitative data related to quality and flexibility. The DEA methodology is used to solve the layout design problem by simultaneously considering both the quantitative and qualitative data. The purposed integrated procedure is applied to a real data set of a case study, which consists of 19 FLDs provided of the plastic profile production system.     

A GES/TS algorithm for the job shop scheduling

The job shop scheduling problem is a difficult combinatorial optimization problem. This paper presents a hybrid algorithm which combines global equilibrium search, path relinking and tabu search to solve the job shop scheduling problem. The proposed algorithm used biased random sampling to have a better covering of the solution space. In addition, a new version of N6 neighborhood is applied in a tabu search framework. In order to evaluate the algorithm, comprehensive tests are applied to it using various standard benchmark sets. Computational results confirm the effectiveness of the algorithm and its high speed. Besides, 19 new upper bounds among the unsolved problems are found.     

Point of presence design in Internet protocol networks with performance guarantees

In this paper, we propose a model for the point of presence (POP) design problem in Internet protocol (IP) networks with performance guarantees, where a POP is a node composed of several interconnected co-located backbone routers within a central office. This problem consists of selecting the number of routers and their types, selecting the interface card types, connecting the access and the backbone links to the ports and selecting the link types between the co-located routers. Furthermore, the model considers the routing of the IP traffic. The performance guarantees we refer to are bandwidth guarantees between the routers for the normal state of the POP and also for all failure scenarios of interest to the network planner. A tabu search heuristic to find solutions for real-size instances of the problem is proposed. Finally, we present a systematic set of experiments designed to assess the performance of the proposed heuristic.