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The solution of complex system design problems using decomposition-based optimization methods requires determination of appropriate problem partitioning and coordination strategies. Previous optimal partitioning techniques have not addressed the coordination issue explicitly. This article presents a formal approach to simultaneous partitioning and coordination strategy decisions that can provide insights on whether a decomposition-based method will be effective for a given problem. Pareto-optimal solutions are generated to quantify tradeoffs between the sizes of subproblems and coordination problems as measures of the computational costs resulting from different partitioning and coordination strategies. Promising preliminary results with small test problems are presented. The approach is illustrated on an electric water pump design problem.
Allison et al. (Mon,) studied this question.