Using differential evolution and Moth–Flame optimization for scientific workflow scheduling in fog computing

Quantum-Inspired Moth-Flame Optimizer With Enhanced Local Search Strategy for Cluster Analysis

Clustering is an unsupervised learning technique widely used in the field of data mining and analysis. Clustering encompasses many specific methods, among which the K-means algorithm maintains the predominance of popularity with respect to its simplicity and efficiency. However, its efficiency is significantly influenced by the initial solution and it is susceptible to being stuck in a local optimum. To eliminate these deficiencies of K-means, this paper proposes a quantum-inspired moth-flame optimizer with an enhanced local search strategy (QLSMFO). Firstly, quantum double-chain encoding and quantum revolving gates are introduced in the initial phase of the algorithm, which can enrich the population diversity and efficiently improve the exploration ability. Second, an improved local search strategy on the basis of the Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) is implemented to boost the exploitation capability of the standard MFO. Finally, the poor solutions are updated using Levy flight to obtain a faster convergence rate. Ten well-known UCI benchmark test datasets dedicated to clustering are selected for testing the efficiency of QLSMFO algorithms and compared with the K-means and ten currently popular swarm intelligence algorithms. Meanwhile, the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and Friedman test are utilized to evaluate the effect of QLSMFO. The simulation experimental results demonstrate that QLSMFO significantly outperforms other algorithms with respect to precision, convergence speed, and stability.

An Improved Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm with Adaptation Mechanism to Solve Numerical and Mechanical Engineering Problems

Moth-flame optimization (MFO) algorithm inspired by the transverse orientation of moths toward the light source is an effective approach to solve global optimization problems. However, the MFO algorithm suffers from issues such as premature convergence, low population diversity, local optima entrapment, and imbalance between exploration and exploitation. In this study, therefore, an improved moth-flame optimization (I-MFO) algorithm is proposed to cope with canonical MFO's issues by locating trapped moths in local optimum via defining memory for each moth. The trapped moths tend to escape from the local optima by taking advantage of the adapted wandering around search (AWAS) strategy. The efficiency of the proposed I-MFO is evaluated by CEC 2018 benchmark functions and compared against other well-known metaheuristic algorithms. Moreover, the obtained results are statistically analyzed by the Friedman test on 30, 50, and 100 dimensions. Finally, the ability of the I-MFO algorithm to find the best optimal solutions for mechanical engineering problems is evaluated with three problems from the latest test-suite CEC 2020. The experimental and statistical results demonstrate that the proposed I-MFO is significantly superior to the contender algorithms and it successfully upgrades the shortcomings of the canonical MFO.