Ebook: Distributed Search by Constrained Agents: Algorithms, Performance, Communication

Agent technology is evolving as a leading field of research connected to diverse areas such as A.I., E-commerce, robotics and information retrieval. Agents systems use reasoning and constraint-based reasoning that has a wide potential for representing multiple types of problems. A fundamental building block within all these areas is the ability to perform search and an inherent part of all agents must therefore relate to distributed and cooperative methods of search.

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the field of distributed constraints, its algorithms and its active research areas. It introduces distributed constraint satisfaction and optimization problems and proceeds to present a complete state-of-the-art in DisCSP & DisCOP research. The presentation assumes no prior knowledge of constraints or distributed constraints.

Features and topics:

• Introduces in great detail search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Presents a comprehensive study of distributed performance measures for all algorithms, allowing an extensive experimental evaluation to be constructed

• Addresses potential problems following current research on DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Discusses the impact of communication quality on distributed search (for example message delays)

• Describes the most significant recent research in the field of distributed constraints satisfaction and optimization, including its difficulties

This exposition of the many elements of distributed search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs will be a research asset and an invaluable read for researchers and graduate students who focus on distributed CSPs and COPs. In addition, the book’s comprehensiveness and style make it an ideal tool for a graduate course on distributed search in AI.

Professor Amnon Meisels has an active research group who have worked in distributed constraints for a number of years and has published extensively in the field. He is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

---

Agent technology is evolving as a leading field of research connected to diverse areas such as A.I., E-commerce, robotics and information retrieval. Agents systems use reasoning and constraint-based reasoning that has a wide potential for representing multiple types of problems. A fundamental building block within all these areas is the ability to perform search and an inherent part of all agents must therefore relate to distributed and cooperative methods of search.

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the field of distributed constraints, its algorithms and its active research areas. It introduces distributed constraint satisfaction and optimization problems and proceeds to present a complete state-of-the-art in DisCSP & DisCOP research. The presentation assumes no prior knowledge of constraints or distributed constraints.

Features and topics:

• Introduces in great detail search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Presents a comprehensive study of distributed performance measures for all algorithms, allowing an extensive experimental evaluation to be constructed

• Addresses potential problems following current research on DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Discusses the impact of communication quality on distributed search (for example message delays)

• Describes the most significant recent research in the field of distributed constraints satisfaction and optimization, including its difficulties

This exposition of the many elements of distributed search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs will be a research asset and an invaluable read for researchers and graduate students who focus on distributed CSPs and COPs. In addition, the book’s comprehensiveness and style make it an ideal tool for a graduate course on distributed search in AI.

Professor Amnon Meisels has an active research group who have worked in distributed constraints for a number of years and has published extensively in the field. He is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

---

Agent technology is evolving as a leading field of research connected to diverse areas such as A.I., E-commerce, robotics and information retrieval. Agents systems use reasoning and constraint-based reasoning that has a wide potential for representing multiple types of problems. A fundamental building block within all these areas is the ability to perform search and an inherent part of all agents must therefore relate to distributed and cooperative methods of search.

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the field of distributed constraints, its algorithms and its active research areas. It introduces distributed constraint satisfaction and optimization problems and proceeds to present a complete state-of-the-art in DisCSP & DisCOP research. The presentation assumes no prior knowledge of constraints or distributed constraints.

Features and topics:

• Introduces in great detail search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Presents a comprehensive study of distributed performance measures for all algorithms, allowing an extensive experimental evaluation to be constructed

• Addresses potential problems following current research on DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Discusses the impact of communication quality on distributed search (for example message delays)

• Describes the most significant recent research in the field of distributed constraints satisfaction and optimization, including its difficulties

This exposition of the many elements of distributed search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs will be a research asset and an invaluable read for researchers and graduate students who focus on distributed CSPs and COPs. In addition, the book’s comprehensiveness and style make it an ideal tool for a graduate course on distributed search in AI.

Professor Amnon Meisels has an active research group who have worked in distributed constraints for a number of years and has published extensively in the field. He is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XX
Introduction....Pages 1-5
Constraints Satisfaction Problems - CSPs....Pages 7-17
Constraints Optimization Problems - COPs....Pages 19-26
Distributed Search....Pages 27-35
Asynchronous Backtracking (ABT)....Pages 37-51
Asynchronous Forward-Checking....Pages 53-61
Concurrent Dynamic Backtracking....Pages 63-82
Distributed Ordering Heuristics....Pages 83-87
Asynchronous Ordering Heuristics....Pages 89-104
Performance measures for distributed search....Pages 105-120
Experimental Evaluation of DisCSP Algorithms....Pages 121-136
The Impact of Communication - Message Delays....Pages 137-142
Message Delays and DisCSP Search Algorithms....Pages 143-158
Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DisCOPs)....Pages 159-168
Asynchronous Optimization for DisCOPs....Pages 169-182
Asynchronous Forward-Bounding....Pages 183-191
Extending AFB - BackJumping....Pages 193-201
Empirical Evaluation of DisCOP algorithms....Pages 203-207
Back Matter....Pages 209-216

---

Agent technology is evolving as a leading field of research connected to diverse areas such as A.I., E-commerce, robotics and information retrieval. Agents systems use reasoning and constraint-based reasoning that has a wide potential for representing multiple types of problems. A fundamental building block within all these areas is the ability to perform search and an inherent part of all agents must therefore relate to distributed and cooperative methods of search.

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the field of distributed constraints, its algorithms and its active research areas. It introduces distributed constraint satisfaction and optimization problems and proceeds to present a complete state-of-the-art in DisCSP & DisCOP research. The presentation assumes no prior knowledge of constraints or distributed constraints.

Features and topics:

• Introduces in great detail search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Presents a comprehensive study of distributed performance measures for all algorithms, allowing an extensive experimental evaluation to be constructed

• Addresses potential problems following current research on DisCSPs and DisCOPs

• Discusses the impact of communication quality on distributed search (for example message delays)

• Describes the most significant recent research in the field of distributed constraints satisfaction and optimization, including its difficulties

This exposition of the many elements of distributed search algorithms for DisCSPs and DisCOPs will be a research asset and an invaluable read for researchers and graduate students who focus on distributed CSPs and COPs. In addition, the book’s comprehensiveness and style make it an ideal tool for a graduate course on distributed search in AI.

Professor Amnon Meisels has an active research group who have worked in distributed constraints for a number of years and has published extensively in the field. He is a member of the Department of Computer Science at Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-XX
Introduction....Pages 1-5
Constraints Satisfaction Problems - CSPs....Pages 7-17
Constraints Optimization Problems - COPs....Pages 19-26
Distributed Search....Pages 27-35
Asynchronous Backtracking (ABT)....Pages 37-51
Asynchronous Forward-Checking....Pages 53-61
Concurrent Dynamic Backtracking....Pages 63-82
Distributed Ordering Heuristics....Pages 83-87
Asynchronous Ordering Heuristics....Pages 89-104
Performance measures for distributed search....Pages 105-120
Experimental Evaluation of DisCSP Algorithms....Pages 121-136
The Impact of Communication - Message Delays....Pages 137-142
Message Delays and DisCSP Search Algorithms....Pages 143-158
Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DisCOPs)....Pages 159-168
Asynchronous Optimization for DisCOPs....Pages 169-182
Asynchronous Forward-Bounding....Pages 183-191
Extending AFB - BackJumping....Pages 193-201
Empirical Evaluation of DisCOP algorithms....Pages 203-207
Back Matter....Pages 209-216
....