Genetic Algorithm (GA) has become a very popular tool for various kinds of problems, including optimization problems with wider search spaces. Grid search techniques are usually not feasible or ineffective at finding a solution, which is good enough. The most computationally intensive component of GA is the calculation of the goodness (fitness) of candidate solutions. However, since the fitness calculation of each individual does not depend each other, this process can be parallelized easily. The easiest way to reach high amounts of computational power is using grid. Grids are composed of multiple clusters, thus they can offer much more resources than a single cluster. On the other hand, grid may not be the easiest environment to develop parallel programs, because of the lack of tools or libraries that can be used for communication among the processes. In this work, we introduce a new framework, GridAE, for GA applications. GridAE uses the master worker model for parallelization and offers a GA library to users. It also abstracts the message passing process from users. Moreover, it has both command line interface and web interface for job management. These properties makes the framework more usable for developers even with limited parallel programming or grid computing experience. The performance of GridAE is tested with a shape optimization problem and results show that the framework is more convenient to problems with crowded populations.

In this thesis, we present a versatile parallel programming model composed of an individual general-purpose processor aided by several application-specific coprocessors. These computing units operate under a simplification of the master-worker model. The user-defined coprocessors may be either homogeneous or heterogeneous. We analyze system performance with regard to system size and task granularity, and we present experimental results to determine the optimal operating conditions. Finally, we consider the suitability of this approach for scientific simulations — specifically for use in agent-based models of biological systems. / Master of Science

Les problèmes d’optimisation combinatoire sont devenus la cible de nombreuses recherches scientifiques pour leur importance dans la résolution de problèmes académiques et de problèmes réels rencontrés dans le domaine de l’ingénierie et dans l’industrie. La résolution de ces problèmes par des méthodes exactes ne peut être envisagée à cause des délais de traitement souvent exorbitants que nécessiteraient ces méthodes pour atteindre la (les) solution(s) optimale(s). Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés au contexte algorithmique de résolution des problèmes combinatoires, et au contexte de modélisation de ces problèmes. Au niveau algorithmique, nous avons appréhendé les méthodes hybrides qui excellent par leur capacité à faire coopérer les méthodes exactes et les méthodes approchées afin de produire rapidement des solutions. Au niveau modélisation, nous avons travaillé sur la spécification et la résolution exacte des problématiques complexes de fouille des ensembles de motifs en étudiant tout particulièrement le passage à l’échelle sur des bases de données de grande taille. D'une part, nous avons proposé une première parallélisation de l'algorithme DGVNS, appelée CPDGVNS, qui explore en parallèle les différents clusters fournis par la décomposition arborescente en partageant la meilleure solution trouvée sur un modèle maître-travailleur. Deux autres stratégies, appelées RADGVNS et RSDGVNS, ont été proposées qui améliorent la fréquence d'échange des solutions intermédiaires entre les différents processus. Les expérimentations effectuées sur des problèmes combinatoires difficiles montrent l'adéquation et l'efficacité de nos méthodes parallèles. D'autre part, nous avons proposé une approche hybride combinant à la fois les techniques de programmation linéaire en nombres entiers (PLNE) et la fouille de motifs. Notre approche est complète et tire profit du cadre général de la PLNE (en procurant un haut niveau de flexibilité et d’expressivité) et des heuristiques spécialisées pour l’exploration et l’extraction de données (pour améliorer les temps de calcul). Outre le cadre général de l’extraction des ensembles de motifs, nous avons étudié plus particulièrement deux problèmes : le clustering conceptuel et le problème de tuilage (tiling). Les expérimentations menées ont montré l’apport de notre proposition par rapport aux approches à base de contraintes et aux heuristiques spécialisées. / Combinatorial optimization problems have become the target of many scientific researches for their importance in solving academic problems and real problems encountered in the field of engineering and industry. Solving these problems by exact methods is often intractable because of the exorbitant time processing that these methods would require to reach the optimal solution(s). In this thesis, we were interested in the algorithmic context of solving combinatorial problems, and the modeling context of these problems. At the algorithmic level, we have explored the hybrid methods which excel in their ability to cooperate exact methods and approximate methods in order to produce rapidly solutions of best quality. At the modeling level, we worked on the specification and the exact resolution of complex problems in pattern set mining, in particular, by studying scaling issues in large databases. On the one hand, we proposed a first parallelization of the DGVNS algorithm, called CPDGVNS, which explores in parallel the different clusters of the tree decomposition by sharing the best overall solution on a master-worker model. Two other strategies, called RADGVNS and RSDGVNS, have been proposed which improve the frequency of exchanging intermediate solutions between the different processes. Experiments carried out on difficult combinatorial problems show the effectiveness of our parallel methods. On the other hand, we proposed a hybrid approach combining techniques of both Integer Linear Programming (ILP) and pattern mining. Our approach is comprehensive and takes advantage of the general ILP framework (by providing a high level of flexibility and expressiveness) and specialized heuristics for data mining (to improve computing time). In addition to the general framework for the pattern set mining, two problems were studied: conceptual clustering and the tiling problem. The experiments carried out showed the contribution of our proposition in relation to constraint-based approaches and specialized heuristics.