Valued Constraint Satisfaction Problems
Problèmes de Satisfaction de Contraintes Valuées
Résumé
As an extension of constraint networks, valued constraint networks (or valued CSPs) define a unifying framework for modelling optimisation problems over finite domains in which the cost domain (also denoted as the valuation structure) can be symbolic or numeric but is totally ordered. As is the case for constraint networks, valued CSPs can be viewed as graphical models, defined by a set of variables with an associated finite domain and by a set of cost functions, each involving a subset of the variables. Before reading this chapter, we strongly advise the reader to finish reading chapter “Constraint Reasoning” of this Volume, dedicated to the Constraint Satisfaction Problem.
