Thoughts on Partitioning Large-Scale Configuration Problems

Most ’interesting’ configuration problems tend to be large-scale. Therefore, the configuration networks grow to remarkable sizes and techniques must be considered to keep handling, solving and checking of these networks practically feasible. This paper presents a technique we use in our current configuration project: the partitioning of large problems into pieces of manageable sizes. The very basics of our component-oriented framework for representing configuration domains are presented. Partitioning a configuration problem means identifying subproblems in the configuration graph and solving them separately. Beside the reduction in problem size we provide the user with control mechanisms by displaying a sub-system-graph to guide the user through the configuration process.