Constructing School Timetables Using Simulated Annealing: Sequential and Parallel Algorithms

D. Abramson
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D. Abramson: Division of Information Technology, C.S.I.R.O., c/o Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 2476V, Melbourne 3001, Australia

Management Science, 1991, vol. 37, issue 1, 98-113

Abstract: This paper considers a solution to the school timetabling problem. The timetabling problem involves scheduling a number of tuples, each consisting of class of students, a teacher, a subject and a room, to a fixed number of time slots. A Monte Carlo scheme called simulated annealing is used as an optimisation technique. The paper introduces the timetabling problem, and then describes the simulated annealing method. Annealing is then applied to the timetabling problem. A prototype timetabling environment is described followed by some experimental results. A parallel algorithm which can be implemented on a multiprocessor is presented. This algorithm can provide a faster solution than the equivalent sequential algorithm. Some further experimental results are given.

Keywords: simulated annealing; optimization; scheduling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (36)

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