Tuning metaheuristics: A data mining based approach for particle swarm optimization

The paper is concerned with practices for tuning the parameters of metaheuristics. Settings such as, e.g., the cooling factor in simulated annealing, may greatly affect a metaheuristic's efficiency as well as effectiveness in solving a given decision problem. However, procedures for organizing parameter calibration are scarce and commonly limited to particular metaheuristics. We argue that the parameter selection task can appropriately be addressed by means of a data mining based approach. In particular, a hybrid system is devised, which employs regression models to learn suitable parameter values from past moves of a metaheuristic in an online fashion. In order to identify a suitable regression method and, more generally, to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach, a case study of particle swarm optimization is conducted. Empirical results suggest that characteristics of the decision problem as well as search history data indeed embody information that allows suitable parameter values to be determined, and that this type of information can successfully be extracted by means of nonlinear regression models. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.