Reinforcement Learning in Dynamic Task Scheduling: A Review

Abstract

Scheduling is assigning shared resources over time to efficiently complete the tasks over a given period of time. The term is applied separately for tasks and resources correspondingly in task scheduling and resource allocation. Scheduling is a popular topic in operational management and computer science. Effective schedules ensure system efficiency, effective decision making, minimize resource wastage and cost, and enhance overall productivity. It is generally a tedious task to choose the most accurate resources in performing work items and schedules in both computing and business process execution. Especially in real-world dynamic systems where multiple agents involve in scheduling various dynamic tasks is a challenging issue. Reinforcement Learning is an emergent technology which has been able to solve the problem of the optimal task and resource scheduling dynamically. This review paper is about a research study that focused on Reinforcement Learning techniques that have been used for dynamic task scheduling. The paper addresses the results of the study by means of the state-of-the-art on Reinforcement learning techniques used in dynamic task scheduling and a comparative review of those techniques.