PISA — A Platform and Programming Language Independent Interface for Search Algorithms

This paper introduces an interface specification (PISA) that allows to separate the problem-specific part of an optimizer from the problem-independent part. We propose a view of the general optimization scenario, where the problem representation together with the variation operators is seen as an integral part of the optimization problem and can hence be easily separated from the selection operators. Both parts are implemented as independent programs, that can be provided as ready-to-use packages and arbitrarily combined. This makes it possible to specify and implement representation-independent selection modules, which form the essence of modern multiobjective optimization algorithms. The variation operators, on the other hand, have to be defined in one module together with the optimization problem, facilitating a customized problem description. Besides the specification, the paper contains a correctness proof for the protocol and measured efficiency results.

Authors and Affiliations

1. ETH Zürich, Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory (TIK), CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland

   Stefan Bleuler, Marco Laumanns, Lothar Thiele & Eckart Zitzler

Editors and Affiliations

1. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Centre for Intelligent Systems, University of the Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal

   Carlos M. Fonseca

2. Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

   Peter J. Fleming

3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Gloriastraße 35, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

   Eckart Zitzler  & Lothar Thiele  & 

4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kanpur Genetic Algorithms Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, UP, 208 016, India

   Kalyanmoy Deb

Reprints and permissions

© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Policies and ethics