Multi-Objective Optimization Through Pareto Minimal Correction Subsets

Multi-Objective Optimization Through Pareto Minimal Correction Subsets

Miguel Terra-Neves, Inês Lynce, Vasco Manquinho

Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Best Sister Conferences. Pages 5379-5383. https://doi.org/10.24963/ijcai.2018/757

A Minimal Correction Subset (MCS) of an unsatisfiable constraint set is a minimal subset of constraints that, if removed, makes the constraint set satisfiable. MCSs enjoy a wide range of applications, such as finding approximate solutions to constrained optimization problems. However, existing work on applying MCS enumeration to optimization problems focuses on the single-objective case. In this work, Pareto Minimal Correction Subsets (Pareto-MCSs) are proposed for approximating the Pareto-optimal solution set of multi-objective constrained optimization problems. We formalize and prove an equivalence relationship between Pareto-optimal solutions and Pareto-MCSs. Moreover, Pareto-MCSs and MCSs can be connected in such a way that existing state-of-the-art MCS enumeration algorithms can be used to enumerate Pareto-MCSs. Finally, experimental results on the multi-objective virtual machine consolidation problem show that the Pareto-MCS approach is competitive with state-of-the-art algorithms.
Keywords:
Constraints and SAT: Constraint Optimisation
Constraints and SAT: SAT: Solvers and Tools