Section: Research Program

Parallel multi-objective optimization: models and software frameworks

Parallel and distributed computing may be considered as a tool to speedup the search to solve large MOPs and to improve the robustness of a given method. Moreover, the joint use of parallelism and cooperation allows improvements on the quality of the obtained Pareto sets. Following this objective, we will design and implement parallel models for metaheuristics (evolutionary algorithms, tabu search approach) and exact methods (branch-and-bound algorithm, branch-and-cut algorithm) to solve different large MOPs.

One of the goals of the DOLPHIN project is to integrate the developed parallel models into software frameworks. Several frameworks for parallel distributed metaheuristics have been proposed in the literature. Most of them focus only either on evolutionary algorithms or on local search methods. Only few frameworks are dedicated to the design of both families of methods. On the other hand, existing optimization frameworks either do not provide parallelism at all or just supply at most one parallel model. In this project, a new framework for parallel hybrid metaheuristics is proposed, named Parallel and Distributed Evolving Objects (ParadisEO) based on EO. The framework provides in a transparent way the hybridization mechanisms presented in the previous section, and the parallel models described in the next section. Concerning the developed parallel exact methods for MOPs, we will integrate them into well-known frameworks such as COIN.

Parallel models

According to the family of addressed metaheuristics, we may distinguish two categories of parallel models: parallel models that manage a single solution, and parallel models that handle a population of solutions. The major single solution-based parallel models are the following: the parallel neighborhood exploration model and the multi-start model.

• The parallel neighborhood exploration model is basically a "low level" model that splits the neighborhood into partitions that are explored and evaluated in parallel. This model is particularly interesting when the evaluation of each solution is costly and/or when the size of the neighborhood is large. It has been successfully applied to the mobile network design problem (see Application section).

• The multi-start model consists in executing in parallel several local searches (that may be heterogeneous), without any information exchange. This model raises particularly the following question: is it equivalent to execute $k$ local searches during a time $t$ than executing a single local search during $k\times t$? To answer this question we tested a multi-start Tabu search on the quadratic assignment problem. The experiments have shown that the answer is often landscape-dependent. For example, the multi-start model may be well-suited for landscapes with multiple basins.

Parallel models that handle a population of solutions are mainly: the island model, the central model and the distributed evaluation of a single solution. Let us notice that the last model may also be used with single-solution metaheuristics.

• In the island model, the population is split into several sub-populations distributed among different processors. Each processor is responsible of the evolution of one sub-population. It executes all the steps of the metaheuristic from the selection to the replacement. After a given number of generations (synchronous communication), or when a convergence threshold is reached (asynchronous communication), the migration process is activated. Then, exchanges of solutions between sub-populations are realized, and received solutions are integrated into the local sub-population.

• The central (Master/Worker) model allows us to keep the sequentiality of the original algorithm. The master centralizes the population and manages the selection and the replacement steps. It sends sub-populations to the workers that execute the recombination and evaluation steps. The latter returns back newly evaluated solutions to the master. This approach is efficient when the generation and evaluation of new solutions is costly.

• The distributed evaluation model consists in a parallel evaluation of each solution. This model has to be used when, for example, the evaluation of a solution requires access to very large databases (data mining applications) that may be distributed over several processors. It may also be useful in a multi-objective context, where several objectives have to be computed simultaneously for a single solution.

As these models have now been identified, our objective is to study them in the multi-objective context in order to use them advisedly. Moreover, these models may be merged to combine different levels of parallelism and to obtain more efficient methods [52], [55].

Goals

Our objectives focus on these issues are the following:

• Design of parallel models for metaheuristics and exact methods for MOPs: We will develop parallel cooperative metaheuristics (evolutionary algorithms and local search algorithms such as the Tabu search) for solving different large MOPs. Moreover, we are designing a new exact method, named PPM (Parallel Partition Method), based on branch and bound and branch and cut algorithms. Finally, some parallel cooperation schemes between metaheuristics and exact algorithms have to be used to solve MOPs in an efficient manner.

• Integration of the parallel models into software frameworks: The parallel models for metaheuristics will be integrated in the ParadisEO software framework. The proposed multi-objective exact methods must be first integrated into standard frameworks for exact methods such as COIN and BOB++. A coupling with ParadisEO is then needed to provide hybridization between metaheuristics and exact methods.

• Efficient deployment of the parallel models on different parallel and distributed architectures including GRIDs: The designed algorithms and frameworks will be efficiently deployed on non-dedicated networks of workstations, dedicated cluster of workstations and SMP (Symmetric Multi-processors) machines. For GRID computing platforms, peer to peer (P2P) middlewares (XtremWeb-Condor) will be used to implement our frameworks. For this purpose, the different optimization algorithms may be re-visited for their efficient deployment.