Papers › Bayesian Optimisation over Multiple Continuous and Categorical Inputs

Bayesian Optimisation over Multiple Continuous and Categorical Inputs

20 Jun 2019ICML 2020 1arXiv:1906.08878archive 2025-07-28

Binxin Ru, Ahsan S. Alvi, Vu Nguyen, Michael A. Osborne, Stephen J. Roberts

Efficient optimisation of black-box problems that comprise both continuous and categorical inputs is important, yet poses significant challenges. We propose a new approach, Continuous and Categorical Bayesian Optimisation (CoCaBO), which combines the strengths of multi-armed bandits and Bayesian optimisation to select values for both categorical and continuous inputs. We model this mixed-type space using a Gaussian Process kernel, designed to allow sharing of information across multiple categorical variables, each with multiple possible values; this allows CoCaBO to leverage all available data efficiently. We extend our method to the batch setting and propose an efficient selection procedure that dynamically balances exploration and exploitation whilst encouraging batch diversity. We demonstrate empirically that our method outperforms existing approaches on both synthetic and real-world optimisation tasks with continuous and categorical inputs.

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distr rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/utils/probability.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · c76c28eb3d0f2d48 · report
draw rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/utils/probability.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · c075d558bd7d9550 · report
mean rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/utils/probability.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · 1d129b821885a91c · report
mybeale rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/testFunctions/syntheticFunctions.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · c0427f31a6fc0305 · report
myrosenbrock rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/testFunctions/syntheticFunctions.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · 07792181b1fe3423 · report
mysixhumpcamp rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/testFunctions/syntheticFunctions.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · 4bac999ada55df33 · report
with_proba rubinxin/CoCaBO_code/utils/with_proba.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · 4e9dd37cf62617d0 · report

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Bayesian OptimisationDiversityMulti-Armed Bandits

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Gaussian Process

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