A Unified Framework for Distributed Stochastic Optimization

Abstract

Stochastic optimization is a widely adopted paradigm for decision making under uncertainty. Many different stochastic optimization models have been proposed depending on the performance criteria to be optimized. These modelstypically give rise to very large scale" optimization problems, and different solution approaches have been developed for the different problem classes. Most of the existin""g methods are not well suited for modern distributed computingarchitectures, especially in the nonconvex setting, e.g. in the prese""nce of integer variables. In this project, we propose to develop a unified framework for distributed decomposition of the different"" classes of large scale stochastic optimization problems. In particular, we will investigate decomposition approaches based on split""ting the problem across the uncertainty dimension, and their implementations on heterogenous distributed computing architectures. So"me key theoretical challenges to be studied are regarding the nonseparability of general stochastic optimization objective functions", nonconvexity and duality gap issues in the presence of integer variables, and handling asynchronous iterations in distributed impl"ementations. We will demonstrate and validate our algorithmic innovations in several important classes of stochastic optimization pr"oblems, including, day-ahead generation scheduling arising in power systems operations, stochastic network interdiction problems ari""sing in defense applications, and stochastic routing problems arising in logistics applications.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Jan 23, 2018
Source ID
N000141812075

Entities

People

  • Shabbir Ahmed

Organizations

  • Georgia Tech Research Corporation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Adaptive Control and Estimation with Uncertainty in Dynamic Systems.
  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Operations Research