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Randomized Postoptimization of Covering Arrays

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Combinatorial Algorithms (IWOCA 2009)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 5874))

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Abstract

The construction of covering arrays with the fewest rows remains a challenging problem. Most computational and recursive constructions result in extensive repetition of coverage. While some is necessary, some is not. By reducing the repeated coverage, metaheuristic search techniques typically outperform simpler computational methods, but they have been applied in a limited set of cases. Time constraints often prevent them from finding an array of competitive size. We examine a different approach. Having used a simple computation or construction to find a covering array, we employ a postoptimization technique that repeatedly adjusts the array in order to (sometimes) reduce its number of rows. At every stage the array retains full coverage. We demonstrate its value on a collection of previously best known arrays by eliminating, in some cases, 10% of their rows. In the well-studied case of strength two with twenty factors having ten values each, postoptimization produces a covering array with only 162 rows, improving on a wide variety of computational and combinatorial methods. We identify certain important features of covering arrays for which postoptimization is successful.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 878809, Tempe, AZ, 85287, U.S.A.

    Peyman Nayeri, Charles J. Colbourn & Goran Konjevod

Authors
  1. Peyman Nayeri
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  2. Charles J. Colbourn
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  3. Goran Konjevod
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Theoretical Computer Science and Department of Applied Mathematics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jiří Fiala  & Jan Kratochvíl  & 

  2. School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, NSW 2308, Callaghan, Australia

    Mirka Miller

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Nayeri, P., Colbourn, C.J., Konjevod, G. (2009). Randomized Postoptimization of Covering Arrays. In: Fiala, J., Kratochvíl, J., Miller, M. (eds) Combinatorial Algorithms. IWOCA 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5874. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10217-2_40

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10217-2_40

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-10216-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-10217-2

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