Title: A load balancing algorithm inspired by the honey bee behaviour to reduce waiting time in a perinatal network

Authors: Hudson Henrique De Souza Lopes; Ricardo Bruno Osés De Oliveira; Flávio Geraldo Coelho Rocha

Addresses: School of Electrical, Computer and Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil ' School of Electrical, Computer and Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil ' School of Electrical, Computer and Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

Abstract: This article proposes a solution to a problem of mixed-integer linear programming for efficient resource allocation in the admission and scheduling process of pregnant women to a perinatal network composed of two maternity hospitals with heterogeneous capacities. For this, a load balancing algorithm based on the metaheuristic of honey bee behaviour is used. It is shown, through the results obtained in the simulations, that the proposed algorithm reduces the mean turnaround time of the system and the waiting time for pregnant women who enter the perinatal network, in comparison with other load balancing algorithms, based on classic queue theory, that are found in the literature.

Keywords: load balancing; honey bee behaviour; perinatal; maternity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMOR.2022.122217

International Journal of Mathematics in Operational Research, 2022 Vol.21 No.3, pp.338 - 354

Received: 08 Nov 2020
Accepted: 04 Jan 2021

Published online: 12 Apr 2022 *

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