Comparing Winner Determination Algorithms for Mixed Multi-unit Combinatorial Auctions
Brammert Ottens, Ulle Endriss

Abstract:
Mixed multi-unit combinatorial auctions are combinatorial
auctions in which the auctioneer and the bidders negotiate 
over transformations rather than over simple goods. By
proposing a transformation a bidder is offering to produce a
certain set of output goods after having received the 
specified input goods. Solving such a mixed auction means 
choosing a sequence of transformations such that the auctioneer
ends up with all the goods desired at the lowest possible
cost. This is a generalisation of the winner determination
problem in combinatorial auctions and cannot be solved using 
standard winner determination algorithms. In this paper
we analyse the computational complexity of the winner 
determination problem for mixed auctions and compare the
performance of two new algorithms and of the original 
algorithm proposed for the problem. We also discuss suitable
ways of generating test sets for this comparison.