Working Together: Constraint Programming and Cloud Computing

This proposal combines two active, important research streams in cloud computing and constraint programming, both of which will realise significant and sustained benefits from working in concert. Constraint programming is a proven technology for solving complex combinatorial problems. However, the inherent difficulty of these problems means that performance can be variable, often requiring tuning by an expert to obtain best results. One approach to obtaining more robust performance is to employ a portfolio of solvers with complementary strengths. The scalable resource offered by the cloud is perfectly suited to the deployment of such portfolios and presents the opportunity to employ large solver portfolios to tackle challenge problems of exceptional difficulty. Conversely, a major concern in cloud computing is how to deploy an application on the available infrastructure so as to maximise performance and minimise operating costs. Added complexity arises when dealing with Big Data scenarios where it is important to run computation as closely (in terms of network distance) as possible to the data, in order to minimise network latency and maximise the performance of an application. This is a difficult combinatorial problem with a large set of variables including: public cloud provider, cloud configuration, geographical region, pricing etc. to which constraint programming is ideally suited.

Our two primary research streams in ICT will interact and work together with a third in astronomy to deliver a solution to a major challenge application: scheduling telescope observations to measure the abundance of planets throughout the Milky Way. If successful, the benefit to astronomy is clear, but our two primary streams will also benefit greatly from a major evaluation of their ability to work together to solve a large, complex problem.

This proposal combines two active, important research streams in cloud computing and constraint programming, both of which will realise significant and sustained benefits from working in concert. Constraint programming is a proven technology for solving complex combinatorial problems and cloud computing is emerging as the dominant paradigm for hosting and delivering services over the Internet, both of which have very wide applicability. As a result of working together our research has a wide set of potential beneficiaries.

Impact to the Economy:

According to a recent Bloomberg report the total Worldwide cloud computing market could potentially be worth $270 billion by 2020. This project will foster collaboration between the complementary areas of cloud computing and constraint programming. The ideas and software produced as a result of this innovative collaboration will help ensure that the UK is on the forefront of the highly lucrative cloud computing market. In addition, the increased robustness of constraint solving gained from parallel constraint solver portfolio deployment, and the ability to scale constraint solving to problems of exceptional difficulty will be very valuable - combinatorial problems arise in many areas throughout the economy.

Regarding application and exploitation, there are currently no comprehensive services (discussed further in the case for support) that suggest the optimal public cloud provider and cloud configuration in order to maximise an application's performance and reduce operating costs. The technology developed as a result of our Working Together in ICT grant has the potential to be spun out into a cloud computing startup company and contribute directly to the UK economy. If this avenue is to be pursued we will source the correct government funding streams or venture capital investment.

Our Working Together in ICT project will likely be the start of a long lasting collaboration between the areas of cloud computing and constraint programming. Inward investment will be met with further follow on project sourced from UK (e.g., EPSRC), European (e.g., FP7) and International research funds (e.g., Qatar National Research Fund) as well as industrial sources.

Impact to People:

This project will employ two Research Assistants working at the intersection of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The core team (P.I and Co-I's) will work closely with two Research Assistants funded directly from the project. This collaboration will generate new ideas around these diverse areas of Computer Science and help create a unique skill set which will lead to further research projects, training (through our workshops discussed in WP4.3) and potential knowledge exchange and furthering the training of skilled people for both academic and non academic disciplines.

Impact to Society:

Our major application focuses on gravitational micro lensing which provides the only technique known for detecting signatures of small planets (down to even Lunar mass) in wide orbits around their host stars. Embracing the amazing diversity of planets in the Milky Way is a requirement for understanding the origin, role, and possible fate of planet Earth. While comparative planetology beyond the Solar System addresses most fundamental philosophical questions, it also opens a window for gaining new insight on the interaction between ourselves and our planet, in particular on processes that shape the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, critical to life and the future of humanity.