Constraint Satisfaction

Problems

Chapter 5
Section 1 – 3

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 1

 Outline
 Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP)
 Backtracking search for CSPs
 Local search for CSPs

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 2

 Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs)
 Standard search problem:
 state is defined by variables Xi with values from domain Di
 goal test is a set of constraints specifying allowable combinations of
 values for subsets of variables

 Allows useful general-purpose algorithms with more power than standard

search algorithms


 Simple example of a formal representation language



 state is a "black box“ – any data structure that supports

successor function, heuristic function, and goal test
 CSP:
03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 3
 Example: Map-Coloring

 Variables WA, NT, Q, NSW, V, SA, T

 Domains Di = {red,green,blue}
 Constraints: adjacent regions must have different colors
 e.g., WA ≠ NT, or (WA,NT) in {(red,green),(red,blue),(green,red),
(green,blue),(blue,red),(blue,green)}


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 4
 Example: Map-Coloring

 Solutions are complete and consistent assignments,

e.g., WA = red, NT = green,Q = red,NSW =
green,V = red,SA = blue,T = green

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 5
 Constraint graph
 Binary CSP: each constraint relates two variables
 Constraint graph: nodes are variables, arcs are constraints


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 6

 Varieties of CSPs
 Discrete variables
 finite domains:
 n variables, domain size d  O(dn) complete assignments

 e.g., Boolean CSPs, incl.~Boolean satisfiability (NP-complete)

 infinite domains:
 integers, strings, etc.
 e.g., job scheduling, variables are start/end days for each job

need a constraint language, e.g., StartJob1 + 5 ≤ StartJob3
 Continuous variables
 e.g., start/end times for Hubble Space Telescope observations
 linear constraints solvable in polynomial time by linear programming


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 7

 Varieties of constraints
 Unary constraints involve a single variable,
 e.g., SA ≠ green
 Binary constraints involve pairs of variables,
 e.g., SA ≠ WA
 Higher-order constraints involve 3 or more
variables,
 e.g., cryptarithmetic column constraints


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 8

 Example: Cryptarithmetic

 Variables: F T U W
R O X1 X2 X 3
 Domains: {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}
 Constraints: Alldiff (F,T,U,W,R,O)
 X2 + T + T = O + 10 · X3
 X3 = F, T ≠ 0, F ≠ 0


 O + O = R + 10 · X1
 X1 + W + W = U + 10 · X2
03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 9

 Real-world CSPs
 Assignment problems
 e.g., who teaches what class
 Timetabling problems
 e.g., which class is offered when and where?

 Transportation scheduling
 Factory scheduling
 Notice that many real-world problems involve real-
valued variables


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 10

 Standard search formulation (incremental)
Let's start with the straightforward approach, then fix it
 Initial state: the empty assignment { }
 Successor function: assign a value to an unassigned variable that does not
conflict with current assignment
 fail if no legal assignments
 Goal test: the current assignment is complete

1. This is the same for all CSPs

2. Every solution appears at depth n with n variables
 use depth-first search
3. Path is irrelevant, so can also use complete-state formulation
4. b = (n - l )d at depth l, hence n! · dn leaves
5.


 States are defined by the values assigned so far


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 11
 Backtracking search
 Variable assignments are commutative}, i.e.,
[ WA = red then NT = green ] same as [ NT = green then WA = red ]

 Only need to consider assignments to a single variable at each node

 b = d and there are $d^n$ leaves

 Depth-first search for CSPs with single-variable assignments is called

backtracking search

 Backtracking search is the basic uninformed algorithm for CSPs

 Can solve n-queens for n ≈ 25




03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 12
 Backtracking search

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 13

 Backtracking example

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 14

 Backtracking example

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 15

 Backtracking example

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 16

 Backtracking example

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 17

 Improving backtracking efficiency
 General-purpose methods can give huge
gains in speed:
 Which variable should be assigned next?
 In what order should its values be tried?
 Can we detect inevitable failure early?



03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 18
 Most constrained variable
 Most constrained variable:
choose the variable with the fewest legal values

 a.k.a. minimum remaining values (MRV)

heuristic


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 19

 Most constraining variable
 Tie-breaker among most constrained
variables
 Most constraining variable:
 choose the variable with the most constraints on
remaining variables


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 20

 Least constraining value
 Given a variable, choose the least
constraining value:

 Combining these heuristics makes 1000

queens feasible


 the one that rules out the fewest values in

the remaining variables
03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 21

 Forward checking
 Idea:
 Keep track of remaining legal values for unassigned variables
 Terminate search when any variable has no legal values


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 22

 Forward checking
 Idea:
 Keep track of remaining legal values for unassigned variables
 Terminate search when any variable has no legal values


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 23

 Forward checking
 Idea:
 Keep track of remaining legal values for unassigned variables
 Terminate search when any variable has no legal values


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 24

 Forward checking
 Idea:
 Keep track of remaining legal values for unassigned variables
 Terminate search when any variable has no legal values


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 25

 Constraint propagation
 Forward checking propagates information from assigned to
unassigned variables, but doesn't provide early detection
for all failures:

 NT and SA cannot both be blue!

 Constraint propagation repeatedly enforces
constraints locally

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 26
 Arc consistency
 Simplest form of propagation makes each arc consistent
 X Y is consistent iff
for every value x of X there is some allowed y


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 27

 Arc consistency
 Simplest form of propagation makes each arc consistent
 X Y is consistent iff
for every value x of X there is some allowed y


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 28

 Arc consistency
 Simplest form of propagation makes each arc consistent
 X Y is consistent iff
for every value x of X there is some allowed y

 If X loses a value, neighbors of X need to be rechecked




03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 29
 Arc consistency
 Simplest form of propagation makes each arc consistent
 X Y is consistent iff
for every value x of X there is some allowed y

 If X loses a value, neighbors of X need to be rechecked

 Arc consistency detects failure earlier than forward checking

 Can be run as a preprocessor or after each

assignment

03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 30
 Arc consistency algorithm AC-3

 Time complexity: O(n2d3)


03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 31
 Local search for CSPs
 Hill-climbing, simulated annealing typically work with
"complete" states, i.e., all variables assigned
 To apply to CSPs:
 allow states with unsatisfied constraints
 operators reassign variable values
 Variable selection: randomly select any conflicted variable
 Value selection by min-conflicts heuristic:
 choose value that violates the fewest
constraints
 i.e., hill-climb with h(n) = total number of
violated constraints


03/28/24
 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 32
 Example: 4-Queens
 States: 4 queens in 4 columns (44 = 256 states)
 Actions: move queen in column
 Goal test: no attacks

 Given random initial state, can solve n-queens in almost

constant time for arbitrary n with high probability (e.g., n =
10,000,000)
 Evaluation: h(n) = number of attacks



03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 33
 Summary
 CSPs are a special kind of problem:
 states defined by values of a fixed set of variables
 goal test defined by constraints on variable values

 Backtracking = depth-first search with one variable assigned per node

 Variable ordering and value selection heuristics help significantly
 Forward checking prevents assignments that guarantee later failure
 Constraint propagation (e.g., arc consistency) does additional work to
constrain values and detect inconsistencies
 Iterative min-conflicts is usually effective in
practice







03/28/24 CS 3243 - Constraint Satisfaction 34