Maximizing over multiple pattern databases speeds up heuristic search

A pattern database (PDB) is a heuristic function stored as a lookup table. This paper considers how best to use a fixed amount (m units) of memory for storing pattern databases. In particular, we examine whether using n pattern databases of size m / n instead of one pattern database of size m improves search performance. In all the state spaces considered, the use of multiple smaller pattern databases reduces the number of nodes generated by IDA*. The paper provides an explanation for this phenomenon based on the distribution of heuristic values that occur during search.

Authors

• Robert C. Holte
• Ariel Felner Computer and Information Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Jack Newton
• Ram Meshulam
• David Furcy

Keywords

• Heuristic search
• Pattern databases
• Admissible heuristics
• IDA*