Parallel Branch-and-Bound Formulations for AND/OR Tree Search

This paper discusses two general schemes for performing branch-and-bound (B&B) search in parallel. These schemes are applicable in principle to most of the problems which can be solved by B&B. The schemes are implemented for SSS*, a versatile algorithm having applications in game tree search, structural pattern analysis, and AND/OR graph search. The performance of parallel SSS* is studied in the context of AND/OR tree and game tree search. The paper concludes with comments on potential applications of these parallel implementations of SSS* in structural pattern analysis and game playing.