2014 Sixth International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks
A Study of Task Scheduling Based On Differential Evolution Algorithm
in Cloud Computing
Jing Xue, Liutao Li, SaiSai Zhao, Litao Jiao
School of AutomationˈNorthwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an,China
xuejing@nwpu.edu.cn, 463292366@qq.com, 494386952@qq.com, 309569929@qq.com

Abstract—In this paper, we put forward a task scheduling
algorithm in cloud computing with the goal of the minimum
completion time, maximum load balancing degree, and the
minimum energy consumption using improved differential
evolution algorithm. In order to improve the global search
ability in the earlier stage and the local search ability in the
later stage, we have adopted the adaptive zooming factor
mutation strategy and adaptive crossover factor increasing
strategy. At the same time, we have strengthened the
selection mechanism to keep the diversity of population in
the later stage. In the process of simulation, we have
performed the functional verification of the algorithm and
compared with the other representative algorithms. The
experimental results show that the improved differential
evolution algorithm can optimize cloud computing task
scheduling problems in task completion time, load balancing,
and energy efficient optimization.
Keywords- Cloud Computing; Task Scheduling;
Differential Evolution Algorithm
I. INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing [1][2] is a kind of technology that
integrates the distributed computing, the parallel
computing, the virtualization technology and Web service
technology. It has the characteristics of large scale, high
reliability, abstraction, generality and so on, and it is
getting the attention of scientific and business like Google
cloud computing, IBM "blue cloud", Amazon EC2 and so
on. The architecture of cloud computing is mainly
including service and management. Due to the
unreasonable resource scheduling in cloud computing,
some of the cloud servers paralyze easily, while other
servers are in the idle state. So the resource scheduling is
the key to the cloud computing research [3][4].In cloud
computing resource scheduling is a NP problem, various
heuristic algorithms can be used for the task allocation
problem of resource scheduling. In a massive task for
resource scheduling, resource security, load balance,
energy consumption and other issues should be
considered. Literature[5] has design a task scheduling
algorithm based on particle swarm by introducing
particles and more variable population collaboration, it
has realized the optimization of task time. Literature[6]
has put forward an algorithm of cloud computing cluster
resource scheduling based on the clonal selection
algorithm .In literature[7], a dynamic task allocation
model is established, then it uses particle swarm
optimization algorithm to realize the resource load
balancing. Literature[8] takes the resource utilization and
energy consumption as the optimization goal, it has used
ant colony algorithm to solve and improve the resource
utilization of the physical machine. The targets of the
above documents are relatively simple, although the
particular aspect has been optimized, but they has ignored
other problems.
978-1-4799-6929-6/14 $31.00 © 2014 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/CICN.2014.142
10.1109/.142
In this paper, we put forward a task scheduling
algorithm with the goal of the minimum completion time,
maximum load balancing degree, and the minimum
energy consumption using improved differential
evolution algorithm in cloud computing. And then make a
simulation verification combine with CloudSim.
II. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
In cloud computing environment, a large-scale computing
tasks require a distributed parallel processing. We put a
large task into n mutually independent sub-tasks, and then
assigned to the m virtual resource node (virtual machine)
to perform, those participate in scheduling independent
sub-task sets are represented as D={d1,d2,...,dn}(di:task
i).The system uses appropriate strategies to handle tasks
assigned to different resource nodes,we use R={r1,r2,...,r3}
(ri:virtual node i) stand for virtual resource nodes those
who participate in scheduling. Execution speed of each
resource node represented by MIPS, task length
instruction is represented by MI,each individual task can
only be assigned to execute on a virtual node, Now the
task execution time on each resource node is represented
with a matrix T, T={tij}(i=1,2,...,n;j=1,2,...,m),Where tij
represents the execution time that task di running on rj.
t ij  MI[i] MIPS[ j ] (1)
Distribution relation is represented by matrix X,X={xij}
(i=1,2,...,n;j=1,2,...,m),xij=1 stands for task di is running
on rj, otherwise xij=0. The time perform on rj is
n
E(R )  x t
j 
i 1
ij ij
(2)
All tasks completion time is
C  max E ( Rj ) (3)
Load balancing is to split tasks into multiple unit
operation to perform. Load balancing degree is higher,
the utilization rate of resources is higher, and the concrete
can be defined as [9] :
m
(4)

P  1  (C  E ( R )) ( N * C )
j
j 1
Here, we ignore communication energy consumption,
energy consumption of processor is only considered in
dealing with tasks. We use matrix L to represent the
energy consumption, L={lij}(i=1,2,...,n;j=1,2,...,m), lij
represents the consumption of energy that task di running
on rj.Then the energy consumption of completing a task
scheduling can be expressed as
n m
(5)
Q   lij xij
i 1 j 1
In this paper, the cloud computing task scheduling is
abstracted as the following multi-objective optimization
problem like {min(C),max(P),min(Q)}.
By the formula (1) - (4),The smaller C, the greater P.
Therefore, in the process of evaluation, we only take one
638
637
inconsideration between C and P, so we define the fitness
function is:
f ( X )  w1C ( X )  w2Q( X ) (6)
w1 and w2 are the actual requirements for the proportion
of time and resources,w1+w2=1 .
The standard differential evolution algorithm
Differential evolutionary algorithm is a kind of heuristic
random search algorithm based on group differences, it
solves the optimization problem through cooperation and
competition between individuals within a population. The
basic principle of DE is to weight difference vector of any
two individuals in the population, and added to the third
according to the corresponding rules to get a new
individual. According to the ideas of the greedy choice, if
new individual is better than the original individual,
received a new individual, otherwise, saved the original
individual into the next generation. The basic operation of
algorithm includes mutation, crossover and evolution.
Firstly, random initialization population, X(0)=[X1(0),
X2(0),...,XNP(0)]. Then make a mutation to the individual
Xi(t) of t generation in population to get Vi(t+1):
Vi (t  1)  X r (t )  F  ( X r (t )  X r (t ))(r1  r2  r3  i)
1 2 3
r1,r2,r3∈{1,2,...,NP},Xr1(t)is the base vector of parent
generation, (Xr2(t)-Xr3(t))is the difference vector of parent
generation, F is the zoom factor and t is the number of
iterations.
Next, make a crossover operation to Vi(t+1) to get test
individual Ui(t+1), the j dimensional component of Ui(t+1)
is ui,j(t+1):
generated NP individual with the length of M. every one
of each individual has randomly value from the set {1,
2,... , N} .
B. The adaptive zooming factor mutation strategy
The zoom factor F in the formula (7), general value
in [0, 1]. The zoom factor F plays a regulatory role in
global search and local search of algorithm . If F is bigger,
which is beneficial to keep the population diversity and
global search. Smaller F is conducive to improve the
convergence precision and local search. In order to
maintain the population diversity and global search, and
get as many possible global optimal seeds in the initial
stages of the search, and strengthen the local search
ability in the late search, this paper used the method of an
adaptive scaling factor F, the F decreases with the
increase of the number of iterations.
F  Fmax  ( Fmax  Fmin )( t )2
T (10)
Where Fmax is the largest scale factor, Fmin is the
minimum scale factor, t is the current number of
iterations , T is the maximum number of iterations.
C. The adaptive crossover factor increasing strategy
(7) Similarly, the crossover factor CR in the formula (8)
also affects the search ability and convergence of the
algorithm and CR generally value in [0.5, 1], the smaller
the CR, more conducive to keep population diversity and
global search; The larger the CR, the more benefit in local
search and accelerate convergence speed. So, we use the
crossover factor increment method to improve the
effectiveness of the algorithm, the specific formula is as
follows:
V (t  1), If (rand ()  CR )or ( j  jrand ) CR  CRmin  (CRmax  CRmin )( t )2
ui, j (t  1) 
i, j (8) T (11)
 xi, j (t ), Otherwise
Where CRmax is maximum crossover factor, CRmin is
CR is the probability of crossover which range between the smallest crossover factor, t is the current iteration
0~1, rand () is the generated random number within the number, T is the maximum number of iterations.
range 0 ~ 1,jrand is a random quantity between {1,2,...,D}.
D. Selection strategy
using the following formula to compare the fitness
function of Ui(t+1) and Xi(t). Then select the low value of The standard differential evolution algorithm using
the fitness function of the individual as the offspring. f() greedy algorithm when came to the selection strategy,
is the fitness function though beneficial to speed up the convergence, but it has
. reduced the diversity of the population, easy to fall into
 "premature". In order to ensure the diversity of population
U (t  1), If ( f (U i (t  1))
f ( X i (t ))) (9)
X i (t  1) 
i in the later algorithm, this paper adds the option

X i (t ), Otherwise mechanism in the original algorithm: in order to prevent
the mutation and crossover operation damage the optimal
III. THE DESIGN OF THE IMPRVED
parent individuals, the optimal parent individuals directly
DIFFERENTIAL ALGORITHM IN THE CLOUD TASK
into children group, to solve the problem of useful
SCHEDULING
individual may be discarded, thus effectively maintaining
A. The Initialization the diversity of population.
Here the focus is the encoding for queue scheduling, E. The steps of algorithm
differential evolution using real number coding method,
Step1:Initialize the parameters. Set the population size
and the article based on the literature [10] resources
as NP, the maximum scaling factor Fmax, the minimum
indirect encoding method. Length coding for the number
scaling factor Fmin, the biggest crossover probability
of tasks,every value is the number of occupied resources.
factor CRmax,the minimum crossover probability factor
If you have10 tasks (d1,d2,...,d10),5 available resources
CRmin, the maximum iteration times T, t=1.
(r1,r2,r3,r4,r5), the code length is 5, each bit has a value in
Step2:Initialize the population reference to the above
the set{1,2,3,4,5}. assuming that the individual is
mentioned.
encoded as[2,3,1,3,4,5,2,2,5,3], The first bit code is 2,
Step3:Seek fitness function for each individual, then
said d1 run on r2, and so on.Assume that population size
sort them, find the fitness of the best individual, the best
is NP, number of tasks is M, resources is N, the random
individual directly go into the next generation population.
initialization described as: by the system randomly
Step4:Determine whether the target value has

638
639
achieved accuracy or has achieved the maximum number
of iterations, if so, go to Step8, otherwise, go the next
step.
Step5:Do the mutation operation according to (7) and
(10) to the individuals of t generation population, then
generate variation individuals.
Step6:Do the crossover operation according to (8) and
(11) to the individuals of t generation population, then
generate crossover individuals.
Step7:According to (9) type selection operation,
generate the individuals of t+1 generation population.
Step8:T = t + 1, turn to step 3.
Step9:Get the optimal solution and end of the algorithm.
Fig.1 Task completion time figure

IV. THE EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION

A. Functional simulation
To evaluate the performance of the cloud computing
task scheduling algorithm, we make simulations based on
the open source cloud computing simulation platform
CloudSim. Experimental environment is as follows: with
15 virtual node resources, 100 scheduling independent
tasks, each resource node execution speed MIPS and task
length instruction MI and energy consumption matrix L
random by Matlab.
The parameters of the algorithm are set as follows:
population size NP is equal to the number of tasks 100,
the largest scaling factor Fmax=0.8, the minimum zoom
Fmax

Fig.2:Energy consumption figure

factor Fmin=0.4, maximum crossover probability factor
CRmax=
0.9, the smallest crossover probability factor CRmin=0.5.
During the experiment, the fitness function formula
(6), when the w1=1,w2=0,at this time, only consider the
task time and task scheduling algorithm of load balance,
defined as TLDE algorithm; When w1=0,w2=1, the task
scheduling algorithm for only consider energy
consumption, noted as PDE algorithm.When
w1=0.4,w2=0.6,the time for both task time and load
balancing, and also consider the energy consumption of
task scheduling algorithm, for TLPDE algorithm.
Because in our modeling task completion time is less, the
corresponding load balance factor is greater, so in the
next simulation we consider only the task completion
time and energy consumption. Because in our modeling,
the less time to complete the task, the greater the
corresponding load balance factor, in the
next simulation we only consider the task completion
time and energy consumption. The task scheduling
scheme for the three algorithms of task execution time
and energy consumption simulation, the results are shown
in figure 1, 2;
From Fig.1, 2 can see that TLDE and PDE in the task
completion time and the energy consumption is formed
on the complete opposite: TLDE can quickly complete
the task, but consumes too much energy. Although the
PDE to complete the task time is long, consumes less
energy. And just TLPDE for both compromise, not only
can ensure complete the task more quickly, but also can
consume less energy. At the same time,it can be seen
from the figure,the 3 algorithms can converge rapidly,
and embodies the good optimization performance of the
algorithm.
B. The performance contrast experiment
In order to verify the improved optimization
performance of DE algorithm, under the same conditions,
compare the performance and task scheduling algorithm
in the literature [5][6].Since the task scheduling algorithm
in Ref[5][6] only consider the time factor, so the TLDE
compare with them. Suppose you have 40 resource nodes,
other parameters are the same as the A, experiment result
is shown in Fig.3.

Fig.3: Task completion time comparison chart

639
640
The Fig.3 shows that in this paper, when the improved
DE algorithm applied to cloud computing task scheduling
problem, only consider the task completion time case,this
algorithm is better than that of [5] particle swarm
optimization algorithm and the literature [6]clonal
selection algorithm, demonstrate the superiority of the
algorithm in this paper.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we put forward a task scheduling
algorithm with the goal of the minimum completion time,
maximum load balancing degree, and the minimum
energy consumption using improved differential
evolution algorithm in cloud computing. And then make a
simulation verification combine with CloudSim. The
experimental results show that: the improved differential
evolution algorithm can efficient optimize cloud
computing task scheduling problems in load balancing,
energy and time.
REFERENCES
[1] [1] Vawuero L M, Rodero-Merino L, Caceres J. A break in the
clouds: towards a cloud definition[J]. ACM SIGCOMM Computer
Communication Review, 2009, 39(1): 50-54.
640
641
[2] MELLP, GRANCE T. The NIST definition of cloud
computing[EB/OL]. [2012-12-08]. http: / /www.nist.gov/itl/cloud/.
[3] LI Qiao, ZHENG Xiao. Research Survey of Cloud Computing[J].
Computer Science, 2011, 38(4): 32-37.
[4] Ochwerger B, Breitgand D, Levy E, et al. The reservoir model and
architecture for open federated cloud computing[J].IBM Journal of
Research and Development, 2009, 53(4):1-17.
[5] LIU Wan-jun, ZHANG Meng-hua, GUO Wen-yue. Cloud
Computing Resource Schedule Strategy Based on MPSO
Algorithm. Computer Engineering, 2011, 37(11):43-48.
[6] ZHU Li--hua, LI Chun-hua, WU Kuan-ren. Cluster Resource
Scheduling Based on and Improved Cloud Selection Algorism in
Cloud Computing. Science Technology and Engineering.
1671-1815(2013) 13-3642-05.
[7] FENG Xiao-jing㸪PAN Yu. DPSO resource load balancing in
cloud computing[J]. Computer Engineering and Applications㸪
2013㸦6㸧㸸105-108.
[8] Gao Y, Guan H, Qi Z, et al. A multi-objective ant colony system
algorithm for virtual machine placement in cloud computing [J ].
Journal of Computer and Syst em Sciences , 2013 , 79 (8 ) : 1230-
1242 .
[9] LI Yan-fang, JIANG Xiu-feng. Grid resources scheduling
algorithm based on discrete particle swarm and tabu
search[J].Computer and Modernization, 2011, 193(9):26-29.