On the disambiguation of finite automata and functional transducers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper introduces a new disambiguation algorithm for finite automata and functional finite-state transducers. It gives a full description of this algorithm, including a detailed pseudocode and analysis, and several illustrating examples. The algorithm is often more efficient and the result dramatically smaller than the one obtained using determinization for finite automata or the construction of Schützenberger. The unambiguous automaton or transducer created by our algorithm are never larger than those generated by the construction of Schützenberger. In fact, in a variety of cases, the size of the unambiguous transducer returned by our algorithm is only linear in that of the input transducer while the transducer created by the construction of Schützenberger is exponentially larger. Our algorithm can be used effectively in many applications to make automata and transducers more efficient to use.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)847-862
Number of pages16
JournalInternational Journal of Foundations of Computer Science
Volume24
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2013

Keywords

  • Finite automata
  • determinization
  • disambiguation
  • finite-state transducers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science (miscellaneous)

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