Solving Traveling Salesman Problem by Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm with Association Rule

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is among the most important combinatorial problems. Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is a recently developed algorithm which has been successfully applied to several NP-hard problems, such as traveling salesman problem, quadratic assignment problem and job-shop problem. Association rule (AR) is the key in knowledge in data mining for finding the best data sequence. A new algorithm which integrates ACO and AR is proposed to solve TSP problems. Compare with the simulated annealing algorithm, the standard genetic algorithm and the standard ant colony algorithm, the new algorithm is better than ACO.