Presentation on NFA & DFA

Topics Covered:

1: Equivalence of NFA & DFA.

2: Conversion of NFA to DFA.

By:
Aditya budhwar
Anuj Dubey
(2nd CSE)
Nondeterministic Finite
Automata
A nondeterministic finite automaton (NFA) is a
mathematical model that consists of
• A set of states S
• A set of input symbols Σ
• A transition function that maps state/symbol pairs
to a set of states:
S x {Σ + ε}  set of S
• A special state s0 called the start state
• A set of states F (subset of S) of final states
INPUT: string
OUTPUT: yes or no
 Example NFA
Transition Table:
ε

0 a 1 b 2 b 3 STATE
a b ε
a,b 0 0,1 0 3
S = { 0,1,2,3} 1 2
S0 = 0
2 3
Σ = {a,b}
F = {3} 3
Deterministic Finite Automata

A deterministic finite automaton (DFA) is a

mathematical model that consists of
• A set of states S
• A set of input symbols Σ
• A transition function that maps state/symbol pairs
to a state:
SxΣS
• A special state s0 called the start state
• A set of states F (subset of S) of final states
INPUT: string
OUTPUT: yes or no
 Example DFA
Transition Table:
ε

0 a 1 b 2 b 3 STATE
a b ε
b 0 0,1 0 3
S = { 0,1,2,3} 1 2
S0 = 0
2 3
Σ = {a,b}
F = {3} 3
Regular Languages

1. There is an algorithm for converting any RE

into an NFA.
2. There is an algorithm for converting any NFA to
a DFA.
3. There is an algorithm for converting any DFA to
a RE.

These facts tell us that REs, NFAs and DFAs have

equivalent expressive power. All three
describe the class of regular languages.
Converting Regular
Expressions to NFAs
The regular expressions over finite Σ are the
strings over the alphabet Σ + { ), (, |, *} such
that:
 { } (empty set) is a regular expression for the empty set

 Empty string ε is a regular expression denoting { ε }

ε
 a is a regular expression denoting {a } for any a in Σ
a
Converting Regular
Expressions to NFAs
If P and Q are regular expressions with NFAs Np, Nq:
P | Q (union) Np
ε ε

ε ε
Nq
PQ (concatenation)
Np Nq
ε ε ε
Converting Regular
Expressions to NFAs
If Q is a regular expression with NFA Nq:
Q* (closure) ε
ε Nq ε

ε
Example (ab* | a*b)*
Starting with:
a
ab* 1 2
a*b 3
b
4

b a

ab* | a*b
a
1 2
ε ε
5 b 6
ε ε
3 b 4

a
 Example (ab* | a*b)*
ab* | a*b
a
ε
1 2 ε
5 b 6
ε
3 b 4 ε
(ab* | a*b)*
a a
ε
1 2 ε
ε b
ε
7 5 6 8
ε ε
ε b
ε 3 4
a
Converting NFAs to DFAs
 Idea: Each state in the new DFA will correspond to
some set of states from the NFA. The DFA will be in
state {s0,s1,…} after input if the NFA could be in any
of these states for the same input.

 Input: NFA N with state set SN, alphabet Σ, start state sN, final states FN,
transition function TN: SN x {Σ U ε}  set of SN
 Output: DFA D with state set SD, alphabet Σ, start state
sD = ε-closure(sN), final states FD, transition function TD: SD x Σ  SD
ε-closure()

Defn: ε-closure(T) = T + all NFA states reachable

from any state in T using only ε transitions.
b
1 2 b

a λ
b 5 ε-closure({1,2,5}) = {1,2,5}
a
ε-closure({4}) = {1,4}
3
λ
4 ε-closure({3}) = {1,3,4}
ε-closure({3,5}) = {1,3,4,5}
 Algorithm: Subset
Construction
sD = ε-closure(sN) -- create start state for DFA
SD = {sD} (unmarked)
while there is some unmarked state R in SD
mark state R
for all a in Σ do
s = ε-closure(ΤΝ(R,a));
if s not already in SD then add it (unmarked)
TD(R,a) = s;
end for
end while
FD = any element of SD that contains a state in FN
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA

ε
1 2 a,b

a b 5

a,b
3 4
b
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA
1,2

ε
1 2 a,b

a b 5

a,b a b
3 4
b {1,2}
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA
b
1,2 4,5

ε a
1 2 a,b

a b 5 3,5

a,b a b
3 4
b {1,2} {3,5} {4,5}
{3,5}
{4,5}
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA
b
1,2 4,5

ε a
1 2 a,b
b 3,5 b 4
a 5

a,b
3 4 a b
b
{1,2} {3,5} {4,5}
{3,5} - {4}
{4,5}
{4}
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA
b a,b
1,2 4,5 5

ε a
1 2 a,b
b 3,5 b 4
a 5

a,b a b
3 4
b {1,2} {3,5} {4,5}
{3,5} - {4}
{4,5} {5} {5}
{4}
{5}
Example 1: Subset
Construction
NFA
b a,b
1,2 4,5 5

ε a a,b
1 2 a,b
b 3,5 b 4
a 5

a,b
3 4 a b
b
{1,2} {3,5} {4,5}
{3,5} - {4}
{4,5} {5} {5}
All final states since the
NFA final state is included {4} {5} {5}
{5} - -
Example 2: Subset
Construction
NFA

b
1 2 b

a ε b 5

a
3 4
ε
Example 2: Subset
Construction
NFA DFA

b a
1 2 b 1 1,3,4
ε b b b
a 5 a
a 2 b a
3 4 b 1,3,4,5
ε b
a
1,4,5
Example 3: Subset
Construction
NFA DFA

b
ε b
1 2 a 3 5 1,2,4

ε a
b b
b 3,4 3,5 3
a 4 5
b b
a

4
a