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160
The Ant System: Optimization by a colony of cooperating agents
- IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS-PART B
, 1996
"... An analogy with the way ant colonies function has suggested the definition of a new computational paradigm, which we call Ant System. We propose it as a viable new approach to stochastic combinatorial optimization. The main characteristics of this model are positive feedback, distributed computation ..."
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Cited by 1300 (46 self)
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An analogy with the way ant colonies function has suggested the definition of a new computational paradigm, which we call Ant System. We propose it as a viable new approach to stochastic combinatorial optimization. The main characteristics of this model are positive feedback, distributed computation, and the use of a constructive greedy heuristic. Positive feedback accounts for rapid discovery of good solutions, distributed computation avoids premature convergence, and the greedy heuristic helps find acceptable solutions in the early stages of the search process. We apply the proposed methodology to the classical Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), and report simulation results. We also discuss parameter selection and the early setups of the model, and compare it with tabu search and simulated annealing using TSP. To demonstrate the robustness of the approach, we show how the Ant System (AS) can be applied to other optimization problems like the asymmetric traveling salesman, the quadrat...
Ant algorithms for discrete optimization
- ARTIFICIAL LIFE
, 1999
"... This article presents an overview of recent work on ant algorithms, that is, algorithms for discrete optimization that took inspiration from the observation of ant colonies’ foraging behavior, and introduces the ant colony optimization (ACO) metaheuristic. In the first part of the article the basic ..."
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Cited by 489 (42 self)
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This article presents an overview of recent work on ant algorithms, that is, algorithms for discrete optimization that took inspiration from the observation of ant colonies’ foraging behavior, and introduces the ant colony optimization (ACO) metaheuristic. In the first part of the article the basic biological findings on real ants are reviewed and their artificial counterparts as well as the ACO metaheuristic are defined. In the second part of the article a number of applications of ACO algorithms to combinatorial optimization and routing in communications networks are described. We conclude with a discussion of related work and of some of the most important aspects of the ACO metaheuristic.
The ant colony optimization meta-heuristic
- in New Ideas in Optimization
, 1999
"... Ant algorithms are multi-agent systems in which the behavior of each single agent, called artificial ant or ant for short in the following, is inspired by the behavior of real ants. Ant algorithms are one of the most successful examples of swarm intelligent systems [3], and have been applied to many ..."
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Cited by 389 (23 self)
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Ant algorithms are multi-agent systems in which the behavior of each single agent, called artificial ant or ant for short in the following, is inspired by the behavior of real ants. Ant algorithms are one of the most successful examples of swarm intelligent systems [3], and have been applied to many types of problems, ranging from the classical traveling salesman
AntNet: Distributed stigmergetic control for communications networks
- JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH
, 1998
"... This paper introduces AntNet, a novel approach to the adaptive learning of routing tables in communications networks. AntNet is a distributed, mobile agents based Monte Carlo system that was inspired by recent work on the ant colony metaphor for solving optimization problems. AntNet's agents co ..."
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Cited by 336 (31 self)
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This paper introduces AntNet, a novel approach to the adaptive learning of routing tables in communications networks. AntNet is a distributed, mobile agents based Monte Carlo system that was inspired by recent work on the ant colony metaphor for solving optimization problems. AntNet's agents concurrently explore the network and exchange collected information. The communication among the agents is indirect and asynchronous, mediated by the network itself. This form of communication is typical of social insects and is called stigmergy. We compare our algorithm with six state-of-the-art routing algorithms coming from the telecommunications and machine learning elds. The algorithms' performance is evaluated over a set of realistic testbeds. We run many experiments over real and artificial IP datagram networks with increasing number of nodes and under several paradigmatic spatial and temporal traffic distributions. Results are very encouraging. AntNet showed superior performance under all the experimental conditions with respect to its competitors. We analyze the main characteristics of the algorithm and try to explain the reasons for its superiority.
MAX-MIN Ant System
, 1999
"... Ant System, the first Ant Colony Optimization algorithm, showed to be a viable method for attacking hard combinatorial optimization problems. Yet, its performance, when compared to more fine-tuned algorithms, was rather poor for large instances of traditional benchmark problems like the Traveling Sa ..."
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Cited by 128 (3 self)
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Ant System, the first Ant Colony Optimization algorithm, showed to be a viable method for attacking hard combinatorial optimization problems. Yet, its performance, when compared to more fine-tuned algorithms, was rather poor for large instances of traditional benchmark problems like the Traveling Salesman Problem. To show that Ant Colony Optimization algorithms could be good alternatives to existing algorithms for hard combinatorial optimization problems, recent research in this ares has mainly focused on the development of algorithmic variants which achieve better performance than AS. In this article, we present¨�©� � –¨��� � Ant System, an Ant Colony Optimization algorithm derived from Ant System.¨�©� � –¨��� � Ant System differs from Ant System in several important aspects, whose usefulness we demonstrate by means of an experimental study. Additionally, we relate one of the characteristics specific to¨� ¨ AS — that of using a greedier search than Ant System — to results from the search space analysis of the combinatorial optimization problems attacked in this paper. Our computational results on the Traveling Salesman Problem and the Quadratic Assignment Problem show that ¨�©� � –¨��� � Ant System is currently among the best performing algorithms for these problems.
Ant System: An Autocatalytic Optimizing Process
, 1991
"... A combination of distributed computation, positive feedback and constructive greedy heuristic is proposed as a new approach to stochastic optimization and problem solving. Positive feedback accounts for rapid discovery of very good solutions, distributed computation avoids premature convergence, and ..."
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Cited by 110 (15 self)
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A combination of distributed computation, positive feedback and constructive greedy heuristic is proposed as a new approach to stochastic optimization and problem solving. Positive feedback accounts for rapid discovery of very good solutions, distributed computation avoids premature convergence, and greedy heuristic helps the procedure to find acceptable solutions in the early stages of the search process. An application of the proposed methodology to the classical travelling salesman problem shows that the system can rapidly provide very good, if not optimal, solutions. We report on many simulation results and discuss the working of the algorithm. Some hints about how this approach can be applied to a variety of optimization problems are also given.
Fitness Landscape Analysis and Memetic Algorithms for the Quadratic Assignment Problem
, 1999
"... In this paper, a fitness landscape analysis for several instances of the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is performed and the results are used to classify problem instances according to their hardness for local search heuristics and meta-heuristics based on local search. The local properties of t ..."
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Cited by 86 (9 self)
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In this paper, a fitness landscape analysis for several instances of the quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is performed and the results are used to classify problem instances according to their hardness for local search heuristics and meta-heuristics based on local search. The local properties of the tness landscape are studied by performing an autocorrelation analysis, while the global structure is investigated by employing a fitness distance correlation analysis. It is shown that epistasis, as expressed by the dominance of the flow and distance matrices of a QAP instance, the landscape ruggedness in terms of the correlation length of a landscape, and the correlation between fitness and distance of local optima in the landscape together are useful for predicting the performance of memetic algorithms - evolutionary algorithms incorporating local search - to a certain extent. Thus, based on these properties a favorable choice of recombination and/or mutation operators can be found.
A Taxonomy of Hybrid Metaheuristics
, 1999
"... . Hybrid metaheuristics have received considerable interest these recent years in the field of combinatorial optimization. A wide variety of hybrid approaches have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, a taxonomy of hybrid metaheuristics is presented in an attempt to provide a common termi ..."
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Cited by 85 (11 self)
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. Hybrid metaheuristics have received considerable interest these recent years in the field of combinatorial optimization. A wide variety of hybrid approaches have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, a taxonomy of hybrid metaheuristics is presented in an attempt to provide a common terminology and classification mechanisms. The taxonomy, while presented in terms of metaheuristics, is also applicable to most types of heuristics and exact optimization algorithms. As an illustration of the usefulness of the taxonomy an annoted bibliography is given which classifies a large number of hybrid approaches according to the taxonomy. The bibliography provides 129 references on the use of hybrid metaheuristics. Keywords: Taxonomy, Combinatorial optimization, Metaheuristics, Hybrid algorithms, Parallel algorithms. 1. Introduction Computing optimal solutions is computationally intractable for many combinatorial optimization problems, e.g., those known as NP-hard. In practice, we are usu...
