This paper presents an algorithm for solving a number of generalized graph coloring problems. Specifically, it gives an agent-based algorithm for the Bandwidth Coloring problem. Using a standard method for preprocessing the input, the same algorithm can also be used to solve the Multicoloring and Bandwidth Multicoloring problems. In the algorithm a number of agents, called ants, each of which colors a portion of the graph, collaborate to obtain a coloring of the entire graph. This coloring is then further improved by a local optimization algorithm. Experimental results on a set of benchmark graphs for these generalized coloring problems show that this algorithm performs very well compared to other heuristic approaches. Categories and Subject Descriptors: G.2.2[Discrete Mathematics]:Graph Theory
Thang Nguyen Bui, ThanhVu H. Nguyen