The MOST technique first solves the given design problem as if it were a purely continuous problem, using sequential quadratic programming to locate an initial peak. If all design variables are real, optimization stops here. Otherwise, the technique branches out to the nearest points that satisfy the integer or discrete value limits of one non-real parameter, for each such parameter. Those limits are added as new constraints, and the technique re-optimizes, yielding a new set of peaks from which to branch. As the optimization progresses, the technique focuses on the values of successive non-real parameters, until all limits are satisfied. | |||||||||