OpenMDAO for network optimization

[dmebane]

Hi

I am interested in optimizing over a network architecture space. Can OpenMDAO be deployed for this and potentially other discrete optimization problems?

[robfalck]

Network architecture isn't something I'm very familiar with, do you have some sources that would be a good introduction to the optimization problem at hand? Seeing a typical optimization problem that you're trying to solve would help me know if OpenMDAO might help you out or not.

In general, OpenMDAO allows you to build system models and then apply optimization to their inputs. Since our work largely (but not entirely) focuses on relatively large scale aerospace-related problems, we focus on gradient based optimization of continuous variables, since it significantly reduces the computational effort for us.

There are also techniques for turning a discrete problem into a continuous one. For instance, in topology optimization, the SIMP method sets the density of each finite element in a mesh so that there's either material in it, or not.