A TMS-Based Approach for Efficient Conflict Resolution and Replanning in Resource Allocation Problems

This paper describes how results from Truth Maintenance Systems and Temporal Abstraction Techniques can be combined for efficient problem solving. The above combination is proved useful for problems in which temporal abstractions are inherent such as resource allocation problems. The temporal abstraction techniques that are involved here are: temporal summarization, that replaces a set of time intervals by a single one, and the value-assignment delay heuristic that decomposes the problem into clusters of variables, based on the ease a resource can be assigned. The proposed formalism provides an architecture for the representation of consistency as well as a problem solving framework that efficiently resolves conflicts on resources contention and manipulates rescheduling with the minimum effort. The need for backtracking is limited and rescheduling is rendered a quite easier and faster task.