A distribution method for solving SAT in grids

Abstract

The emerging large-scale computational grid infrastructure is providing an interesting platform for massive distributed computations. In this paper a novel distribution method called scattering is introduced for solving SAT problem instances in grid environments. The key advantages of scattering are that it can be used in conjunction with any sequential SAT solver (including industrial black box solvers), the distribution heuristic is strictly separated from the heuristic used in sequential solving, and it requires no communication between processes solving subproblems but still allows coordination of such processes. An implementation of the method has been developed for NorduGrid, a large widely distributed production-level grid running in Scandinavia. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.