An Approach for Multipath Cloud Manufacturing Services Dynamic Composition

Cloud manufacturing (CMfg) has become a brand-new service-oriented networked manufacturing. The key technology that achieves this manufacture mode is to aggregate all kinds of potential CMfg services to create value-added composite CMfg services, so as to satisfy various manufacturing requirements. As massive CMfg services with the same manufacturing functionalities and different quality of service (QoS) are emerging on the Internet, CMfg services dynamic composition becomes more and more complex. One challenge of this technology is how to efficiently solve the problem of multipath CMfg services dynamic composition. Another challenge is how to conquer the overconstrained problem occurred in the process of CMfg services dynamic composition. To tackle these two issues, this paper proposes an approach for multipath CMfg services dynamic composition based on improved QoS constraint hierarchies (CHs) model. First, a QoS constraints description model with new evaluation function is propounded based on the CHs theory to conquer the overconstrained problem; second, improved max–min ant system (MMAS) is put forward by introducing improved transfer rule, new global pheromone updating rule and mutation mechanism into MMAS, and then an optimization algorithm named culture genetic MMAS is constructed for multipath CMfg services dynamic composition. Finally, experimental results and performance comparison prove that the proposed method is both effective and efficient.