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arXiv · 2108.00081

Computational Complexity of Synchronization under Sparse Regular Constraints

Stefan Hoffmann
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Abstract

The constrained synchronization problem (CSP) asks for a synchronizing word of a given input automaton contained in a regular set of constraints. It could be viewed as a special case of synchronization of a discrete event system under supervisory control. Here, we study the computational complexity of this problem for the class of sparse regular constraint languages. We give a new characterization of sparse regular sets, which equal the bounded regular sets, and derive a full classification of the computational complexity of CSP for letter-bounded regular constraint languages, which properly contain the strictly bounded regular languages. Then, we introduce strongly self-synchronizing codes and investigate CSP for bounded languages induced by these codes. With our previous result, we deduce a full classification for these languages as well. In both cases, depending on the constraint language, our problem becomes NP-complete or polynomial time solvable.

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Stefan Hoffmann. 2021-07-30. Computational Complexity of Synchronization under Sparse Regular Constraints. https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.00081

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