Abstract
Several time representations were developed, especially by Allen (intervals) and McDermott (points). However, many problems are still open, such as the integration of intervals and points into a single representation as well as the high complexity of the algorithms used with those representations. In this paper we present a new temporal representation and how it can be exploited for reasoning purposes. We propose a time representation combining the notions of intervals, dates and durations. The manipulation of this representation is based on the notion of time map managers (TMM). A constraint propagation tool box has been developed which works either on a symbolic or a numerical time representation. Two general purpose algorithms have been developed GAC4 and ANGEL. Both algorithms can handle parametrable n-ary constraints. These algorithms are a generalization of AC4, an optimal algorithm for arc-consistency for handling p-arity constraints.
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