Exact solution of emerging quadratic assignment problems

We report on a growing class of assignment problems that are increasingly of interest and very challeng- ing in terms of the difficulty they pose to attempts at exact solution. These problems address economic issues in the lo- cation and design of factories, hospitals, depots, transporta- tion hubs and military bases. Others involve improvements in communication network design. In this article we sur- vey the latest and best methods available for solving exactly these difficult problems and suggest a taxonomy that pro- vides a framework for combining existing solution meth- ods and sets of computer tools that can be modified and ex- tended to make inroads in solving this growing class of op- timization problems.