An Improved Algorithm for the Generalized Quadratic Assignment Problem

This paper is concerned with solving GQAPs (generalized quadratic assignment problems) to optimality. In these problems, given M facilities and N locations, the facility space requirements, the location available space, the facility installation costs, the flows between facilities, and the distance costs between locations, one must assign each facility to exactly one location so that each location has sufficient space for all facilities assigned to it and the sum of the products of the facility flows by the corresponding distance costs plus the sum of the installation costs is minimized. This problem generalizes the well-known quadratic assignment problem (QAP), one of the most difficult problems in the combinatorial optimization field. 1 Corresponding author Current address: 2127 Tryon Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146-1228, USA Fax: 215-546-4043