We study threshold properties of random constraint satisfaction problems under a probabilistic model due to Molloy [11]. We give a sufficient condition for the existence of a sharp threshold that leads (for boolean constraints) to a necessary and sufficient for the existence of a sharp threshold in the case where constraint templates are applied with equal probability, solving thus an open prob...

Software product-lines (SPLs) are software platforms that can be readily reconfigured for different project requirements. A key part of an SPL is a model that captures the rules for reconfiguring the software. SPLs commonly use feature models to capture SPL configuration rules. Each SPL configuration is represented as a selection of features from the feature model. Invalid SPL configurations ca...

This paper presents a constraint-based methodology for product design with advanced virtual reality technologies. A hierarchically structured and constraintbased data model is developed to support product design from features to parts and further to assemblies in a VR environment. Product design in the VR environment is performed in an intuitive manner through precise constraint-based manipulat...

Symmetries are inherent in systems that consist of several interchangeable objects or components. When reasoning about such systems, big computational savings can be obtained if the presence of symmetries is recognized. In earlier work, symmetries in constraint satisfaction problems have been handled by introducing symmetry-breaking constraints. In reasoning about transition systems, notably in...

To compute a function such as a mapping from vertices to colors in the graph coloring problem, current practice in Answer Set Programming is to represent the function as a relation. Among other things, this often makes the resulting program unnecessarily large when instantiated on a large domain. The extra constraints needed to enforce the relation as a function also make the logic program less...

Load balancing across a networked environment is a monotonous job. Moreover, if the job to be distributed is a constraint satisfying one, the distribution of load demands core intelligence. This paper proposes parallel processing through Global Evaluation Function by means of randomly initialized agents for solving Constraint Satisfaction Problems. A potential issue about the number of agents i...

Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) are an efficient approach to deal with distributed complex problems. However, they are slightly suited to optimization ones. In order to tackle this problem we present a model to specify Multi-Agent Systems with the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) formalism. It allows to take advantages from CSP solving algorithms and to deal with optimization problems. For this ...

Integrity policies and cryptographic protocols have much in common. They allow for a number of participating principals, and consist of sets of rules controlling the actions that principals should or should not perform. They are intended to uphold various security properties, the crucial ones being integrity, confidentiality and authentication. This paper takes a unified view to the analysis of...

Coordination in Reo emerges from the composition of the behavioural constraints of the primitives, such as channels, in a component connector. Understanding and implementing Reo, however, has been challenging due to interaction of the channel metaphor, which is an inherently local notion, and the non-local nature of constraint propagation imposed by composition. In this paper, the channel metap...

Purpose – Most studies on higher education focus on students as customers, and evaluate student levels of satisfaction/dissatisfaction with their programs, while generally neglecting teacher work satisfaction. Thus, this study evaluates how employee dissatisfaction with various investment items determines the improvement priority. Design/methodology/approach – This study used the academic liter...