In mobile edge computing systems, the edge server placement problem is mainly tackled as a multi-objective optimization problem and solved with mixed integer programming, heuristic or meta-heuristic algorithms, etc. These methods, however, have profound defect implications such as poor scalability, local optimal solutions, and parameter tuning difficulties. To overcome these defects, we propose a novel edge server placement algorithm based on deep q-network and reinforcement learning, dubbed DQN-ESPA, which can achieve optimal placements without relying on previous placement experience. In DQN-ESPA, the edge server placement problem is modeled as a Markov decision process, which is formalized with the state space, action space and reward function, and it is subsequently solved using a reinforcement learning algorithm. Experimental results using real datasets from Shanghai Telecom show that DQN-ESPA outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms such as simulated annealing placement algorithm (SAPA), Top-K placement algorithm (TKPA), K-Means placement algorithm (KMPA), and random placement algorithm (RPA). In particular, with a comprehensive consideration of access delay and workload balance, DQN-ESPA achieves up to 13.40% and 15.54% better placement performance for 100 and 300 edge servers respectively.

As a non-deterministic polynomial hard (NP-hard) problem, the shortest common supersequence (SCS) problem is normally solved by heuristic or metaheuristic algorithms. One type of metaheuristic algorithms that has relatively good performance for solving SCS problems is the chemical reaction optimization (CRO) algorithm. Several CRO-based proposals exist; however, they face such problems as unstable molecular population quality, uneven distribution, and local optimum (premature) solutions. To overcome these problems, we propose a new approach for the search mechanism of CRO-based algorithms. It combines the opposition-based learning (OBL) mechanism with the previously studied improved chemical reaction optimization (IMCRO) algorithm. This upgraded version is dubbed OBLIMCRO. In its initialization phase, the opposite population is constructed from a random population based on OBL; then, the initial population is generated by selecting molecules with the lowest potential energy from the random and opposite populations. In the iterative phase, reaction operators create new molecules, where the final population update is performed. Experiments show that the average running time of OBLIMCRO is more than 50% less than the average running time of CRO_SCS and its baseline algorithm, IMCRO, for the desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and protein datasets.