2,268 research outputs found
Generating a checking sequence with a minimum number of reset transitions
Given a finite state machine M, a checking sequence is an input sequence that is guaranteed to lead to a failure if the implementation under test is faulty and has no more states than M. There has been much interest in the automated generation of a short checking sequence from a finite state machine. However, such sequences can contain reset transitions whose use can adversely affect both the cost of applying the checking sequence and the effectiveness of the checking sequence. Thus, we sometimes want a checking sequence with a minimum number of reset transitions rather than a shortest checking sequence. This paper describes a new algorithm for generating a checking sequence, based on a distinguishing sequence, that minimises the number of reset transitions used.This work was supported in part by Leverhulme Trust grant number F/00275/D, Testing State Based Systems, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada grant number RGPIN 976, and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant number GR/R43150, Formal Methods and Testing (FORTEST)
Superpatterns and Universal Point Sets
An old open problem in graph drawing asks for the size of a universal point
set, a set of points that can be used as vertices for straight-line drawings of
all n-vertex planar graphs. We connect this problem to the theory of
permutation patterns, where another open problem concerns the size of
superpatterns, permutations that contain all patterns of a given size. We
generalize superpatterns to classes of permutations determined by forbidden
patterns, and we construct superpatterns of size n^2/4 + Theta(n) for the
213-avoiding permutations, half the size of known superpatterns for
unconstrained permutations. We use our superpatterns to construct universal
point sets of size n^2/4 - Theta(n), smaller than the previous bound by a 9/16
factor. We prove that every proper subclass of the 213-avoiding permutations
has superpatterns of size O(n log^O(1) n), which we use to prove that the
planar graphs of bounded pathwidth have near-linear universal point sets.Comment: GD 2013 special issue of JGA
Rectangular Layouts and Contact Graphs
Contact graphs of isothetic rectangles unify many concepts from applications
including VLSI and architectural design, computational geometry, and GIS.
Minimizing the area of their corresponding {\em rectangular layouts} is a key
problem. We study the area-optimization problem and show that it is NP-hard to
find a minimum-area rectangular layout of a given contact graph. We present
O(n)-time algorithms that construct -area rectangular layouts for
general contact graphs and -area rectangular layouts for trees.
(For trees, this is an -approximation algorithm.) We also present an
infinite family of graphs (rsp., trees) that require (rsp.,
) area.
We derive these results by presenting a new characterization of graphs that
admit rectangular layouts using the related concept of {\em rectangular duals}.
A corollary to our results relates the class of graphs that admit rectangular
layouts to {\em rectangle of influence drawings}.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 55 references, 1 appendi
Vertex Cover Kernelization Revisited: Upper and Lower Bounds for a Refined Parameter
An important result in the study of polynomial-time preprocessing shows that
there is an algorithm which given an instance (G,k) of Vertex Cover outputs an
equivalent instance (G',k') in polynomial time with the guarantee that G' has
at most 2k' vertices (and thus O((k')^2) edges) with k' <= k. Using the
terminology of parameterized complexity we say that k-Vertex Cover has a kernel
with 2k vertices. There is complexity-theoretic evidence that both 2k vertices
and Theta(k^2) edges are optimal for the kernel size. In this paper we consider
the Vertex Cover problem with a different parameter, the size fvs(G) of a
minimum feedback vertex set for G. This refined parameter is structurally
smaller than the parameter k associated to the vertex covering number vc(G)
since fvs(G) <= vc(G) and the difference can be arbitrarily large. We give a
kernel for Vertex Cover with a number of vertices that is cubic in fvs(G): an
instance (G,X,k) of Vertex Cover, where X is a feedback vertex set for G, can
be transformed in polynomial time into an equivalent instance (G',X',k') such
that |V(G')| <= 2k and |V(G')| <= O(|X'|^3). A similar result holds when the
feedback vertex set X is not given along with the input. In sharp contrast we
show that the Weighted Vertex Cover problem does not have a polynomial kernel
when parameterized by the cardinality of a given vertex cover of the graph
unless NP is in coNP/poly and the polynomial hierarchy collapses to the third
level.Comment: Published in "Theory of Computing Systems" as an Open Access
publicatio
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Using a minimal number of resets when testing from a finite state machine
Greedy Selfish Network Creation
We introduce and analyze greedy equilibria (GE) for the well-known model of
selfish network creation by Fabrikant et al.[PODC'03]. GE are interesting for
two reasons: (1) they model outcomes found by agents which prefer smooth
adaptations over radical strategy-changes, (2) GE are outcomes found by agents
which do not have enough computational resources to play optimally. In the
model of Fabrikant et al. agents correspond to Internet Service Providers which
buy network links to improve their quality of network usage. It is known that
computing a best response in this model is NP-hard. Hence, poly-time agents are
likely not to play optimally. But how good are networks created by such agents?
We answer this question for very simple agents. Quite surprisingly, naive
greedy play suffices to create remarkably stable networks. Specifically, we
show that in the SUM version, where agents attempt to minimize their average
distance to all other agents, GE capture Nash equilibria (NE) on trees and that
any GE is in 3-approximate NE on general networks. For the latter we also
provide a lower bound of 3/2 on the approximation ratio. For the MAX version,
where agents attempt to minimize their maximum distance, we show that any
GE-star is in 2-approximate NE and any GE-tree having larger diameter is in
6/5-approximate NE. Both bounds are tight. We contrast these positive results
by providing a linear lower bound on the approximation ratio for the MAX
version on general networks in GE. This result implies a locality gap of
for the metric min-max facility location problem, where n is the
number of clients.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. An extended abstract of this work was accepted
at WINE'1
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