A block based estimation of distribution algorithm using bivariate model for scheduling problems

Recently, estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) have gradually attracted a lot of attention and have emerged as a prominent alternative to traditional evolutionary algorithms. In this paper, a block-based EDA using bivariate model is developed to solve combinatorial problems. Instead of generating a set of chromosomes, our approach generates a set of promising blocks using bivariate model and these blocks are reserved in an archive for future use. These blocks will be updated every other k generation. Then, two rules, i.e., AC1 and AC2, are developed to generate a new chromosome by combining the set of selected blocks and rest of genes. This block based approach is very efficient and effective when compared with the traditional EDAs. According to the experimental results, the block based EDA outperforms EDA, GA, ACO and other evolutionary approaches in solving benchmark permutation problems. The block based approach is a new concept and has a very promising result for other applications.