Computer Experience on Partitioned List Algorithms

The main characteristics of some programs implementing a number of different versions of partitioned list algorithms are described, and the results of a systematic plan of experiments performed on these programs are reported. These programs concern the determination of all the prime implicants, a prime implicant covering, or an irredundant normal form of a Boolean function. The experiments performed on these programs concern mainly the computer time required, the number of prime implicants obtained, and their distribution in families. The results obtained from these tests demonstrate that relatively large Boolean functions, involving even some thousands of canonical clauses, can be very easily processed by present-day electronic computers. Copyright © 1970 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.