Turker, U., Hierons, R. orcid.org/0000-0002-4771-1446, Mousavi, M.R. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Efficient state identification for finite state machine-based testing. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. ISSN: 0098-5589
Abstract
The practice of testing software systems modelled as Finite State Machines (FSMs) has garnered significant attention owing to its simplicity. In FSM-based testing, the tester derives a test suite from the FSM model representing the system’s specification. Subsequently, this test suite is executed against the implementation, and the tester uses the output to decide whether the implementation conforms to the specification. Often, a test suite generation technique requires input sequences to check whether the FSM is in the intended state. This task is referred to as state identification and is often carried out using a set of input sequences called a characterising set. Even though the use of characterising sets simplifies testing, they require a reliable reset or reset sequence and additional transfer sequences. Unfortunately, resetting the underlying system can be costly or may entail manual configuration. In addition, transfer sequences do not directly contribute to testing. This work introduces a class of characterising sets (Ordered Characterising Sets (OWSets)) that avoid using resets or transfers by design. We show that checking the existence of such a characterising set is NPcomplete. We introduce the notion of bounded O-WSets (BOWSets), which are types of O-WSets that limit transfer usage, and give an algorithm that constructs these. In experiments, on average, the proposed approach led to reductions in the number of resets (95% for real FSMs; 99.73% for synthetic FSMs), the number of transfer inputs (53% for real FSMs; 63.3% for synthetic FSMs) and the number of inputs in state identification sequences (50% for real FSMs; 66.6% for synthetic FSMs). Additionally, the proposed algorithm reduced the time and memory required to derive state identification sequences by 85% and 23%, respectively. Finally, the approach led to test suites with 49.3% fewer sequences and 33.3% fewer inputs on average.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. Except as otherwise noted, this author-accepted version of a journal article published in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering is made available via the University of Sheffield Research Publications and Copyright Policy under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | State identification; finite state machines; software engineering/ software/program verification; software engineering/test design; software engineering/testing and debugging. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/R025134/2 UK Research and Innovation EP/V026801/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2025 13:32 |
Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2025 08:35 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1109/TSE.2025.3604472 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:230260 |