171 research outputs found
Binary decision diagrams for fault tree analysis
This thesis develops a new approach to fault tree analysis, namely the Binary Decision
Diagram (BDD) method. Conventional qualitative fault tree analysis techniques such
as the "top-down" or "bottom-up" approaches are now so well developed that further
refinement is unlikely to result in vast improvements in terms of their computational
capability. The BDD method has exhibited potential gains to be made in terms of
speed and efficiency in determining the minimal cut sets. Further, the nature of the
binary decision diagram is such that it is more suited to Boolean manipulation. The
BDD method has been programmed and successfully applied to a number of
benchmark fault trees.
The analysis capabilities of the technique have been extended such that all quantitative
fault tree top event parameters, which can be determined by conventional Kinetic Tree
Theory, can now be derived directly from the BDD. Parameters such as the top event
probability, frequency of occurrence and expected number of occurrences can be
calculated exactly using this method, removing the need for the approximations
previously required.
Thus the BDD method is proven to have advantages in terms of both accuracy and
efficiency. Initiator/enabler event analysis and importance measures have been
incorporated to extend this method into a full analysis procedure
Small Normalized Boolean Circuits for Semi-disjoint Bilinear Forms Require Logarithmic Conjunction-depth
We consider normalized Boolean circuits that use binary operations of disjunction and conjunction, and unary negation, with the restriction that negation can be only applied to input variables. We derive a lower bound trade-off between the size of normalized Boolean circuits computing Boolean semi-disjoint bilinear forms and their conjunction-depth (i.e., the maximum number of and-gates on a directed path to an output gate). In particular, we show that any normalized Boolean circuit of at most epsilon log n conjunction-depth computing the n-dimensional Boolean vector convolution has Omega(n^{2-4 epsilon}) and-gates. Analogously, any normalized Boolean circuit of at most epsilon log n conjunction-depth computing the n x n Boolean matrix product has Omega(n^{3-4 epsilon}) and-gates. We complete our lower-bound trade-offs with upper-bound trade-offs of similar form yielded by the known fast algebraic algorithms
Lower Bounds for DeMorgan Circuits of Bounded Negation Width
We consider Boolean circuits over {or, and, neg} with negations applied only to input variables. To measure the "amount of negation" in such circuits, we introduce the concept of their "negation width". In particular, a circuit computing a monotone Boolean function f(x_1,...,x_n) has negation width w if no nonzero term produced (purely syntactically) by the circuit contains more than w distinct negated variables. Circuits of negation width w=0 are equivalent to monotone Boolean circuits, while those of negation width w=n have no restrictions. Our motivation is that already circuits of moderate negation width w=n^{epsilon} for an arbitrarily small constant epsilon>0 can be even exponentially stronger than monotone circuits.
We show that the size of any circuit of negation width w computing f is roughly at least the minimum size of a monotone circuit computing f divided by K=min{w^m,m^w}, where m is the maximum length of a prime implicant of f. We also show that the depth of any circuit of negation width w computing f is roughly at least the minimum depth of a monotone circuit computing f minus log K. Finally, we show that formulas of bounded negation width can be balanced to achieve a logarithmic (in their size) depth without increasing their negation width
Karchmer-Wigderson Games for Hazard-free Computation
We present a Karchmer-Wigderson game to study the complexity of hazard-free
formulas. This new game is both a generalization of the monotone
Karchmer-Wigderson game and an analog of the classical Boolean
Karchmer-Wigderson game. Therefore, it acts as a bridge between the existing
monotone and general games.
Using this game, we prove hazard-free formula size and depth lower bounds
that are provably stronger than those possible by the standard technique of
transferring results from monotone complexity in a black-box fashion. For the
multiplexer function we give (1) a hazard-free formula of optimal size and (2)
an improved low-depth hazard-free formula of almost optimal size and (3) a
hazard-free formula with alternation depth that has optimal depth. We then
use our optimal constructions to obtain an improved universal worst-case
hazard-free formula size upper bound. We see our results as a significant step
towards establishing hazard-free computation as an independent missing link
between Boolean complexity and monotone complexity.Comment: 34 pages, To appear in ITCS 202
Notes on Boolean Read-k and Multilinear Circuits
A monotone Boolean (OR,AND) circuit computing a monotone Boolean function f
is a read-k circuit if the polynomial produced (purely syntactically) by the
arithmetic (+,x) version of the circuit has the property that for every prime
implicant of f, the polynomial contains at least one monomial with the same set
of variables, each appearing with degree at most k. Every monotone circuit is a
read-k circuit for some k. We show that already read-1 (OR,AND) circuits are
not weaker than monotone arithmetic constant-free (+,x) circuits computing
multilinear polynomials, are not weaker than non-monotone multilinear
(OR,AND,NOT) circuits computing monotone Boolean functions, and have the same
power as tropical (min,+) circuits solving combinatorial minimization problems.
Finally, we show that read-2 (OR,AND) circuits can be exponentially smaller
than read-1 (OR,AND) circuits.Comment: A throughout revised version. To appear in Discrete Applied
Mathematic
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