New hybrid method for solving constraint optimization problems in anytime contexts

This paper describes a new hybrid method for solving constraint optimization problems in anytime contexts. We use the valued constraint satisfaction problem (VCSP) framework to model numerous discrete optimization problems. Our method (VNS/LDS+CP) combines a variable neighborhood search (VNS) scheme with limited discrepancy search (LDS) using constraint propagation (CP) to evaluate cost and legality of moves made by VNS. Experiments on real-word problem instances demonstrate that our method clearly outperforms both LNS/CP/GR and other standard local search methods as simulated annealing.