Large-Scale P2P-Inspired Problem-Solving: A Formal and Experimental Study

This chapter focuses on parallel/distributed branch-and-bound (B&B) techniques for solving very large instances requiring the use of a huge amount of computational resources. First, it provides some background concerning the parallelization of the B&B algorithm. Next, the chapter describes the peer-to-peer (P2P) approach and details the main distributed challenges. It further focuses on an analysis of P2P approach from scalability and congestion perspectives. The chapter also provides experimental results on an instance of the flow-shop problem (Ta057), comparing the approach with the state-of-the-art one. A detailed analysis of the intrinsic performances of the approach is provided through the study of the different execution phases. Finally, the chapter lists some open questions raised by the P2P approach.