On the Behavior and Application of Constraint Weighting

In this paper we compare the performance of three constraint weighting schemes with one of the latest and fastest WSAT heuristics: rnovelty. We extend previous results from satisfiability testing by looking at the broader domain of constraint satisfaction and test for differences in performance using randomly generated problems and problems based on realistic situations and assumptions. We find constraint weighting produces fairly consistent behaviour within problem domains, and is more influenced by the number and interconnectedness of constraints than the realism or randomness of a problem. We conclude that constraint weighting is better suited to smaller structured problems, where it is can clearly distinguish between different constraint groups.

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