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International Symposium on Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages

PADL 2006: Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages pp 103–117Cite as

A Hybrid BDD and SAT Finite Domain Constraint Solver

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 3819))

Abstract

Finite-domain constraint solvers based on Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) are a powerful technique for solving constraint problems over finite set and integer variables represented as Boolean formulæ. Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers are another form of constraint solver that operate on constraints on Boolean variables expressed in clausal form. Modern SAT solvers have highly optimized propagation mechanisms and also incorporate efficient conflict-clause learning algorithms and effective search heuristics based on variable activity, but these techniques have not been widely used in finite-domain solvers. In this paper we show how to construct a hybrid BDD and SAT solver which inherits the advantages of both solvers simultaneously. The hybrid solver makes use of an efficient algorithm for capturing the inferences of a finite-domain constraint solver in clausal form, allowing us to automatically and transparently construct a SAT model of a finite-domain constraint problem. Finally, we present experimental results demonstrating that the hybrid solver can outperform both SAT and finite-domain solvers by a substantial margin.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NICTA Victoria Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Vic., 3010, Australia

    Peter Hawkins & Peter J. Stuckey

Authors
  1. Peter Hawkins
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  2. Peter J. Stuckey
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brown University, Box 1910, RI 02912, Providence,  

    Pascal Van Hentenryck

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Hawkins, P., Stuckey, P.J. (2005). A Hybrid BDD and SAT Finite Domain Constraint Solver. In: Van Hentenryck, P. (eds) Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages. PADL 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3819. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11603023_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11603023_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-30947-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31685-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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