Enhancing performance of a constraint solver across individual processes

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for reusing information associated with a constraint solving operation for a problem domain, the method comprising:

• receiving a canonical representation for a constraint problem from the problem domain;
• searching through a problem cache for an entry which corresponds to the canonical representation, wherein the problem cache stores a set of entries, and wherein each entry includes a previously stored canonical representation and a corresponding solver heuristic for the previously stored canonical representation;
• and
• if a corresponding entry does not exist in the problem cache, producing an entry in the problem cache for the canonical representation;
• otherwise, if a corresponding entry exists in the problem cache, generating a solution to the canonical representation by reusing the solver heuristic associated with the corresponding entry in the problem cache, which involves retrieving the solver heuristic from the corresponding entry.

A constraint solver server for reusing information associated with a constraint solving operation for a problem domain, comprising:

• a receiving mechanism configured to receive a canonical representation for a constraint problem from the problem domain;
• a problem cache configured to store a set of entries, and wherein each entry includes a previously stored canonical representation and a corresponding solver heuristic for the previously stored canonical representation;
• a lookup mechanism configured to search through the problem cache for an entry which includes the canonical representation, and to retrieve the entry and the corresponding solver heuristic;
• and
• a solver mechanism configured to generate a solution to the canonical representation by using a selected solver heuristic;
• wherein if the problem cache does not contain an entry which corresponds to the canonical representation, the constraint solver server produces an entry in the problem cache for the canonical representation;
• otherwise if the problem cache does contain an entry which corresponds to the canonical representation, the solver mechanism generates a solution to the canonical representation by reusing the solver heuristic associated with the corresponding entry in the problem cache.