Discrete optimization in simulation: a method and applications

Consider the problem of using simulation to optimize the performance of a stochastic system with respect to a number of decision variables. In the past, a considerable effort haa been spent on the development of methods for solving such problems in the case when all the decision variables are continuous. However, the case when the decision variables are discr’ete has received very little attention to date. In this paper, we discuss a method for discrete simulation optimization and show how this method can be applied to optimize a special class of objective functions.