Abstract
We present a new generic problem solving approach for over-constrained problems based on Max-SAT. We first define a clausal form formalism that deals with blocks of clauses instead of individual clauses, and that allows one to declare each block either as hard (i.e., must be satisfied by any solution) or soft (i.e., can be violated by some solution). We then present two Max-SAT solvers that find a truth assignment that satisfies all the hard blocks of clauses and the maximum number of soft blocks of clauses. Our solvers are branch and bound algorithms equipped with original lazy data structures; the first one incorporates static variable selection heuristics while the second one incorporates dynamic variable selection heuristics. Finally, we present an experimental investigation to assess the performance of our approach on a representative sample of instances (random 2-SAT, Max-CSP, and graph coloring).
Research partially supported by projects TIN2004-07933-C03-03 and TIC2003-00950 funded by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. The second author is supported by a grant Ramón y Cajal.
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Argelich, J., Manyà, F. (2005). Solving Over-Constrained Problems with SAT Technology. In: Bacchus, F., Walsh, T. (eds) Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing. SAT 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3569. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11499107_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11499107_1
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