A CSP solver focusing on FAC variables

International audienceThe contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it introduces a concept of FAC variables in discrete Constraint Satisfaction Prob- lems (CSPs). FAC variables can be discovered by local search techniques and powerfully exploited by MAC-based methods. On the other hand, a novel syn- ergetic combination schema between local search paradigms, generalized arc- consistency and MAC-based algorithms is presented. By orchestrating a multiple- way flow of information between these various fully integrated search compo- nents, it often proves more competitive than the usual techniques on most classes of instances