Dynamic Agent Ordering in Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problems

The distributed constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) is a general formalisation used to represent problems in distributed multiagent systems. To deal with realistic problems, multiple local variables may be required within each autonomous agent. A number of heuristics have been developed for solving such multiple local variable problems. However, these approaches do not always guarantee agent independence and the size of problem that can be solved is fairly limited. In this paper, we are interested in increasing search eciency for distributed CSPs. To this end we present a new algorithm using unsatised constraint densities to dynamically determine agent ordering during the search. The independence of agents is guaranteed and agents without neighbouring relationships can run concurrently and asynchronously. As a result of using a backtracking technique to solve the local problem, we have been able to reduce the number of nogoods stored during the search, leading to further eciency g...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: AUSAI
• Authors: Lingzhong Zhou, John Thornton, Abdul Sattar
• Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, AUSAI 2003, Constraint Satisfaction Problem, Local Variable Problems, Multiple Local Variable