Incremental DFA minimisation

Marco Almeida; Nelma Moreira; Rogério Reis

RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications (2014)

  • Volume: 48, Issue: 2, page 173-186
  • ISSN: 0988-3754

Abstract

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We present a new incremental algorithm for minimising deterministic finite automata. It runs in quadratic time for any practical application and may be halted at any point, returning a partially minimised automaton. Hence, the algorithm may be applied to a given automaton at the same time as it is processing a string for acceptance. We also include some experimental comparative results.

How to cite

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Almeida, Marco, Moreira, Nelma, and Reis, Rogério. "Incremental DFA minimisation." RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications 48.2 (2014): 173-186. <http://eudml.org/doc/273041>.

@article{Almeida2014,
abstract = {We present a new incremental algorithm for minimising deterministic finite automata. It runs in quadratic time for any practical application and may be halted at any point, returning a partially minimised automaton. Hence, the algorithm may be applied to a given automaton at the same time as it is processing a string for acceptance. We also include some experimental comparative results.},
author = {Almeida, Marco, Moreira, Nelma, Reis, Rogério},
journal = {RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications},
keywords = {regular languages; finite automata; minimisation algorithms},
language = {eng},
number = {2},
pages = {173-186},
publisher = {EDP-Sciences},
title = {Incremental DFA minimisation},
url = {http://eudml.org/doc/273041},
volume = {48},
year = {2014},
}

TY - JOUR
AU - Almeida, Marco
AU - Moreira, Nelma
AU - Reis, Rogério
TI - Incremental DFA minimisation
JO - RAIRO - Theoretical Informatics and Applications - Informatique Théorique et Applications
PY - 2014
PB - EDP-Sciences
VL - 48
IS - 2
SP - 173
EP - 186
AB - We present a new incremental algorithm for minimising deterministic finite automata. It runs in quadratic time for any practical application and may be halted at any point, returning a partially minimised automaton. Hence, the algorithm may be applied to a given automaton at the same time as it is processing a string for acceptance. We also include some experimental comparative results.
LA - eng
KW - regular languages; finite automata; minimisation algorithms
UR - http://eudml.org/doc/273041
ER -

References

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  1. [1] A. Almeida, M. Almeida, J. Alves, N. Moreira and R. Reis, FAdo and GUItar: tools for automata manipulation and visualization, in vol. 5642 14th CIAA’09, edited by S. Maneth. Lect. Notes Comput. Sci. Springer (2009) 65–74. 
  2. [2] M. Almeida, N. Moreira and R. Reis, Enumeration and generation with a string automata representation, Special issue Selected papers of DCFS (2006). Theoret. Comput. Sci. 387 (2007) 93–102. Zbl1143.68031MR2362181
  3. [3] M. Almeida, N. Moreira and R. Reis, Incremental DFA minimisation, in Proc. of the 15th International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata (CIAA 2010) Winnipeg, MA, Canada, vol. 6482 of Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., edited by M. Domaratzki and K. Salomaa. Springer-Verlag (2010) 39–48. Zbl1297.68103MR2776275
  4. [4] M. Almeida, Equivalence of regular languages: an algorithmic approach and complexity analysis, Ph.D. thesis. University of Porto (2011). 
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  9. [9] J.E. Hopcroft, R. Motwani and J.D. Ullman, Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation. Addison Wesley (2000). Zbl0980.68066MR645539
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  11. [11] E.F. Moore, Gedanken-experiments on sequential machines. J. Symbolic Logic 23 (1958) 60. 
  12. [12] R.E. Tarjan, Efficiency of a good but not linear set union algorithm. J. ACM22 (1975) 215–225. Zbl0307.68029MR458996
  13. [13] B.W. Watson, Taxonomies and toolkit of regular languages algortihms, Ph.D. thesis. Eindhoven University of Tec. (1995). Zbl0832.68064MR1349341
  14. [14] B.W. Watson, An incremental DFA minimization algorithm, in International Workshop on Finite-State Methods in Natural Language Processing. Helsinki, Finland (2001). 
  15. [15] B.W. Watson and J. Daciuk, An efficient DFA minimization algorithm. Natur. Lang. Engrg. (2003) 49–64. 

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