A Network Flow Algorithm for Solving Generalized Assignment Problem

The generalized assignment problem (GAP) is an open problem in which an integer k is given and one wants to assign k′ agents to kk′≤k jobs such that the sum of the corresponding cost is minimal. Unlike the traditional K-cardinality assignment problem, a job can be assigned to many, but different, ag...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yongwen Hu, Qunpo Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2021-01-01
Series:Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5803092
Description
Summary:The generalized assignment problem (GAP) is an open problem in which an integer k is given and one wants to assign k′ agents to kk′≤k jobs such that the sum of the corresponding cost is minimal. Unlike the traditional K-cardinality assignment problem, a job can be assigned to many, but different, agents and an agent may undertake several, but different, jobs in our problem. A network model with a special structure of GAP is given and an algorithm for GAP is proposed. Meanwhile, some important properties of the GAP are given. Numerical experiments are implemented, and the results indicate that the proposed algorithm can globally and efficiently optimize the GAP with a large range cost.
ISSN:1024-123X
1563-5147