IDLIQ: An Incremental Deterministic Finite Automaton Learning Algorithm Through Inverse Queries for Regular Grammar Inference.

Abstract

We present an efficient incremental learning algorithm for Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) with the help of inverse query (IQ) and membership query (MQ). This algorithm is an extension of the Identification of Regular Languages (ID) algorithm from a complete to an incremental learning setup. The learning algorithm learns by making use of a set of labeled examples and by posing queries to a knowledgeable teacher, which is equipped to answer IQs along with MQs and equivalence query. Based on the examples (elements of the live complete set) and responses against IQs from the minimally adequate teacher (MAT), the learning algorithm constructs the hypothesis automaton, consistent with all observed examples. The Incremental DFA Learning algorithm through Inverse Queries (IDLIQ) takes $O\left(\left|\Sigma \right|N+\left|P_c\right|\left|F\right|\right)$ time complexity in the presence of a MAT and ensures convergence to a minimal representation of the target DFA with finite number of labeled examples. Existing incremental learning algorithms; the Incremental ID, the Incremental Distinguishing Strings have polynomial (cubic) time complexity in the presence of a MAT. Therefore, sometimes, these algorithms even fail to learn large complex software systems. In this research work, we have reduced the complexity (from cubic to square form) of the DFA learning in an incremental setup. Finally, we prove the correctness and termination of the IDLIQ algorithm.