Skip to main content

Automated Reencoding of Boolean Formulas

  • Conference paper
Hardware and Software: Verification and Testing (HVC 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 7857))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

We present a novel preprocessing technique to automatically reduce the size of Boolean formulas. This technique, called Bounded Variable Addition (BVA), exchanges clauses for variables. Similar to other preprocessing techniques, BVA greedily lowers the sum of variables and clauses, a rough measure for the hardness to solve a formula. We show that cardinality constraints (CCs) can efficiently be reencoded: from a naive CC encoding, BVA automatically generates a compact encoding, which is smaller than sophisticated encodings. Experimental results show that applying BVA can improve SAT solving performance.

The second and the third author are supported by the Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) NFN Grant S11408-N23 (RiSE). The second author is supported by DARPA contract number N66001-10-2-4087.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Goldberg, E.I., Prasad, M.R., Brayton, R.K.: Using SAT for combinational equivalence checking. In: DATE, pp. 114–121 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Mishchenko, A., Chatterjee, S., Brayton, R.K., Eén, N.: Improvements to combinational equivalence checking. In: Hassoun, S. (ed.) ICCAD, pp. 836–843. ACM (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Baumgartner, J., Mony, H., Paruthi, V., Kanzelman, R., Janssen, G.: Scalable sequential equivalence checking across arbitrary design transformations. In: ICCD. IEEE (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Kaiss, D., Skaba, M., Hanna, Z., Khasidashvili, Z.: Industrial strength SAT-based alignability algorithm for hardware equivalence verification. In: FMCAD, pp. 20–26. IEEE Computer Society (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Biere, A., Cimatti, A., Clarke, E.M., Fujita, M., Zhu, Y.: Symbolic model checking using SAT procedures instead of bdds. In: DAC, pp. 317–320 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Sheeran, M., Singh, S., Stålmarck, G.: Checking safety properties using induction and a SAT-solver. In: Hunt Jr., W.A., Johnson, S.D. (eds.) FMCAD 2000. LNCS, vol. 1954, pp. 108–125. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  7. Chen, Y., Safarpour, S., Marques-Silva, J.P., Veneris, A.G.: Automated design debugging with maximum satisfiability. IEEE Trans. on CAD of Integrated Circuits and Systems 29(11), 1804–1817 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Marques Silva, J.P., Sakallah, K.A.: Grasp: A search algorithm for propositional satisfiability. IEEE Trans. Computers 48(5), 506–521 (1999)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Moskewicz, M.W., Madigan, C.F., Zhao, Y., Zhang, L., Malik, S.: Chaff: Engineering an efficient SAT solver. In: DAC, pp. 530–535. ACM (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Mishchenko, A., Chatterjee, S., Brayton, R.K.: Dag-aware aig rewriting a fresh look at combinational logic synthesis. In: DAC, pp. 532–535 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Eén, N., Mishchenko, A., Sörensson, N.: Applying logic synthesis for speeding up SAT. In: Marques-Silva, J., Sakallah, K.A. (eds.) SAT 2007. LNCS, vol. 4501, pp. 272–286. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  12. Chambers, B., Manolios, P., Vroon, D.: Faster SAT solving with better CNF generation. In: DATE, pp. 1590–1595. IEEE (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Guerra e Silva, L., Miguel Silveira, L., Marques Silva, J.P.: Algorithms for solving boolean satisfiability in combinational circuits. In: DATE, pp. 526–530. IEEE Computer Society (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ganai, M.K., Ashar, P., Gupta, A., Zhang, L., Malik, S.: Combining strengths of circuit-based and CNF-based algorithms for a high-performance SAT solver. In: DAC, pp. 747–750. ACM (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Bacchus, F., Winter, J.: Effective preprocessing with hyper-resolution and equality reduction. In: Giunchiglia, E., Tacchella, A. (eds.) SAT 2003. LNCS, vol. 2919, pp. 341–355. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Eén, N., Sörensson, N.: Translating pseudo-boolean constraints into SAT. JSAT 2(1-4), 1–26 (2006)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. Järvisalo, M., Biere, A., Heule, M.: Blocked clause elimination. In: Esparza, J., Majumdar, R. (eds.) TACAS 2010. LNCS, vol. 6015, pp. 129–144. Springer, Heidelberg (2010)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Biere, A.: Lingeling, Plingeling, PicoSAT and PrecoSAT at SAT Race 2010. FMV Report Series Technical Report 10/1, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Järvisalo, M., Heule, M.J.H., Biere, A.: Inprocessing rules. In: Gramlich, B., Miller, D., Sattler, U. (eds.) IJCAR 2012. LNCS, vol. 7364, pp. 355–370. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Biere, A.: Resolve and expand. In: Hoos, H.H., Mitchell, D.G. (eds.) SAT 2004. LNCS, vol. 3542, pp. 59–70. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  21. Subbarayan, S., Pradhan, D.K.: NiVER: Non-increasing variable elimination resolution for preprocessing SAT instances. In: Hoos, H.H., Mitchell, D.G. (eds.) SAT 2004. LNCS, vol. 3542, pp. 276–291. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  22. Aloul, F.A., Ramani, A., Markov, I.L., Sakallah, K.A.: Solving difficult SAT instances in the presence of symmetry. In: DAC 2002, pp. 731–736. ACM, New York (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Chai, D., Kuehlmann, A.: A fast pseudo-boolean constraint solver. IEEE Trans. on CAD of Integrated Circuits and Systems 24(3), 305–317 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Marques-Silva, J.P., Planes, J.: Algorithms for maximum satisfiability using unsatisfiable cores. In: DATE, pp. 408–413. IEEE (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Quimper, C.-G., López-Ortiz, A., van Beek, P., Golynski, A.: Improved algorithms for the global cardinality constraint. In: Wallace, M. (ed.) CP 2004. LNCS, vol. 3258, pp. 542–556. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Quimper, C.-G., Walsh, T.: Beyond finite domains: The all different and global cardinality constraints. In: van Beek, P. (ed.) CP 2005. LNCS, vol. 3709, pp. 812–816. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  27. Zanarini, A., Pesant, G.: Generalizations of the global cardinality constraint for hierarchical resources. In: Van Hentenryck, P., Wolsey, L.A. (eds.) CPAIOR 2007. LNCS, vol. 4510, pp. 361–375. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Régin, J.-C.: Combination of among and cardinality constraints. In: Barták, R., Milano, M. (eds.) CPAIOR 2005. LNCS, vol. 3524, pp. 288–303. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Sinz, C.: Towards an optimal CNF encoding of boolean cardinality constraints. In: van Beek, P. (ed.) CP 2005. LNCS, vol. 3709, pp. 827–831. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. Bailleux, O., Boufkhad, Y.: Efficient CNF encoding of boolean cardinality constraints. In: Rossi, F. (ed.) CP 2003. LNCS, vol. 2833, pp. 108–122. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Asín, R., Nieuwenhuis, R., Oliveras, A., Rodríguez-Carbonell, E.: Cardinality networks and their applications. In: Kullmann, O. (ed.) SAT 2009. LNCS, vol. 5584, pp. 167–180. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  32. Audemard, G., Katsirelos, G., Simon, L.: A restriction of extended resolution for clause learning SAT solvers. In: Fox, M., Poole, D. (eds.) AAAI. AAAI Press (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Condrat, C., Kalla, P.: A gröbner basis approach to CNF-formulae preprocessing. In: Grumberg, O., Huth, M. (eds.) TACAS 2007. LNCS, vol. 4424, pp. 618–631. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  34. Warners, J.P., van Maaren, H.: A two-phase algorithm for solving a class of hard satisfiability problems. Operations Research Letters 23(3-5), 81–88 (1998)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  35. Davis, M., Putnam, H.: A computing procedure for quantification theory. Journal of the ACM 7(3), 201–215 (1960)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  36. Eén, N., Biere, A.: Effective preprocessing in SAT through variable and clause elimination. In: Bacchus, F., Walsh, T. (eds.) SAT 2005. LNCS, vol. 3569, pp. 61–75. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  37. Küchlin, W., Sinz, C.: Proving consistency assertions for automotive product data management. J. Autom. Reasoning 24(1/2), 145–163 (2000)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  38. Cabon, B., de Givry, S., Lobjois, L., Schiex, T., Warners, J.P.: Radio link frequency assignment. Constraints 4(1), 79–89 (1999)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  39. Le Berre, D., Parrain, A.: The sat4j library, release 2.2, system description. Journal on Satisfiability, Boolean Modeling and Computation (JSAT) 7, 59–64 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Gebser, M., Kaufmann, B., Schaub, T.: The conflict-driven answer set solver clasp: Progress report. In: Erdem, E., Lin, F., Schaub, T. (eds.) LPNMR 2009. LNCS, vol. 5753, pp. 509–514. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  41. Eén, N., Sörensson, N.: An extensible SAT-solver. In: Giunchiglia, E., Tacchella, A. (eds.) SAT 2003. LNCS, vol. 2919, pp. 502–518. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  42. Liffiton, M.H., Maglalang, J.C.: A cardinality solver: More expressive constraints for free - (poster presentation). In: Cimatti, A., Sebastiani, R. (eds.) SAT 2012. LNCS, vol. 7317, pp. 485–486. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  43. Xu, L., Hutter, F., Hoos, H.H., Leyton-Brown, K.: Satzilla: portfolio-based algorithm selection for sat. J. Artif. Int. Res. 32(1), 565–606 (2008)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  44. Prestwich, S.D.: Variable Dependency in Local Search: Prevention Is Better Than Cure. In: Marques-Silva, J., Sakallah, K.A. (eds.) SAT 2007. LNCS, vol. 4501, pp. 107–120. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  45. Chen, J.: A New SAT Encoding of the At-Most-One Constraint. In: Proceedings of ModRef 2011 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Ben-Haim, Y., Ivrii, A., Margalit, O., Matsliah, A.: Perfect hashing and CNF encodings of cardinality constraints. In: Cimatti, A., Sebastiani, R. (eds.) SAT 2012. LNCS, vol. 7317, pp. 397–409. Springer, Heidelberg (2012)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  47. Bonet, M.L., John, K.S.: Efficiently calculating evolutionary tree measures using SAT. In: Kullmann, O. (ed.) SAT 2009. LNCS, vol. 5584, pp. 4–17. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  48. Anton, C.: An improved satisfiable SAT generator based on random subgraph isomorphism. In: Butz, C., Lingras, P. (eds.) Canadian AI 2011. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 6657, pp. 44–49. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Manthey, N., Heule, M.J.H., Biere, A. (2013). Automated Reencoding of Boolean Formulas. In: Biere, A., Nahir, A., Vos, T. (eds) Hardware and Software: Verification and Testing. HVC 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7857. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39611-3_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39611-3_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-39610-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-39611-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics