Instance generators and test suites for the multiobjective quadratic assignment problem

Knowles, J. and Corne, D. (2003) Instance generators and test suites for the multiobjective quadratic assignment problem. In: Fonseca, C. M., Fleming, P. J., Zitzler, E., Deb, K. and Thiele, L. (eds.) Evolutionary Multi-Criterion Optimization, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2632. Springer-Verlag Berlin, Berlin, pp. 295-310. ISBN 0302-9743 3-540-01869-7

Abstract/Summary

We describe, and make publicly available, two problem instance generators for a multiobjective version of the well-known quadratic assignment problem (QAP). The generators allow a number of instance parameters to be set, including those controlling epistasis and inter-objective correlations. Based on these generators, several initial test suites are provided and described. For each test instance we measure some global properties and, for the smallest ones, make some initial observations of the Pareto optimal sets/fronts. Our purpose in providing these tools is to facilitate the ongoing study of problem structure in multiobjective (combinatorial) optimization, and its effects on search landscape and algorithm performance.