Theory and algorithms for state minimization of nondeterministic FSMs

This paper addresses state minimization problems of different classes of nondeterministic finite-state machines (NDFSMs). We describe a fully implicit algorithm for state minimization of pseudo nondeterministic FSM's (PNDFSMs). The results of our implementation are reported and shown to be superior to a previous explicit formulation. We could solve exactly all but one problem of a published benchmark, while an explicit program could complete approximately one half of the examples, and in those cases, with longer run times. Then we present a theoretical solution to the problem of exact state minimization of general NDFSMs, based on the proposal of generalized compatibles. This gives an algorithmic framework to explore behaviors contained in a general NDFSM.