For every NFA a deterministic finite state machine (DFA) can be found that accepts the same language. Therefore it is possible to convert an existing NFA into a DFA for the purpose of implementing a (perhaps) simpler machine. This can be performed using the power set construction which may lead to an exponential rise in the number of necessary states.
NFA is very important for depth knowledge of Automata. You will see that almost everything in Automata Theory is related to NFA.
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Showing posts with label NFA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFA. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Formal Definition of Non-Deterministic Finite State Machine (NFA)
A nondeterministic finite state automaton (NFA) is a 5-tuple, (S, Σ, T, s0, A), consisting of
a finite set of states (S)
a finite set of input symbols (Σ)
a transition function (T : S × (Σ ∪{ε}) → P(S)).
an initial (or start) state s0 such that s0 ∈ S
a set of states A distinguished as accepting (or final) states (A ⊆ S)
where P(S) is the power set of S, ε is the empty string, and Σ is the input symbol alphabet.
Given an NFA M.
Given a string w.
There is any number of computation paths of M with input w.
M accepts w if some computation path ends in a final state.
a finite set of states (S)
a finite set of input symbols (Σ)
a transition function (T : S × (Σ ∪{ε}) → P(S)).
an initial (or start) state s0 such that s0 ∈ S
a set of states A distinguished as accepting (or final) states (A ⊆ S)
where P(S) is the power set of S, ε is the empty string, and Σ is the input symbol alphabet.
Given an NFA M.
Given a string w.
There is any number of computation paths of M with input w.
M accepts w if some computation path ends in a final state.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Deterministic Finite Automata (DFA)
DFAs are equivalent in computing power to NFAs (nondeterministic finite automata).On the other hand, DFAs are of strictly limited power in the languages they can recognize — many simple languages, including any problem that requires more than constant space to solve, cannot be recognized by a DFA.
The classical example of a simply described language that no DFA can recognize is the language consisting of strings of the form anbn — some finite number of a's, followed by an equal number of b's. It can be shown that no DFA can have enough states to recognize such a language.
See you later with our next post….
The classical example of a simply described language that no DFA can recognize is the language consisting of strings of the form anbn — some finite number of a's, followed by an equal number of b's. It can be shown that no DFA can have enough states to recognize such a language.
See you later with our next post….
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