An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications.
Hyper-heuristic is a new methodology for the adaptive hybridization of meta-heuristic algorithms to derive a general algorithm for solving optimization problems. This work focuses on the selection type of hyper-heuristic, called the exponential Monte Carlo with counter (EMCQ). Current implementation...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2020
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| Online Access: | https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/ |
| _version_ | 1848827271760052224 |
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| author | S. Ahmed, Bestoun Enoiu, Eduard Afzal, Wasif Kamal Z., Zamli |
| author_facet | S. Ahmed, Bestoun Enoiu, Eduard Afzal, Wasif Kamal Z., Zamli |
| author_sort | S. Ahmed, Bestoun |
| building | UMP Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Hyper-heuristic is a new methodology for the adaptive hybridization of meta-heuristic algorithms to derive a general algorithm for solving optimization problems. This work focuses on the selection type of hyper-heuristic, called the exponential Monte Carlo with counter (EMCQ). Current implementations rely on the memory-less selection that can be counterproductive as the selected search operator may not (historically) be the best performing operator for the current search instance. Addressing this issue, we propose to integrate the memory into EMCQ for combinatorial t-wise test suite generation using reinforcement learning based on the Q-learning mechanism, called Q-EMCQ. The limited application of combinatorial test generation on industrial programs can impact the use of such techniques as Q-EMCQ. Thus, there is a need to evaluate this kind of approach against relevant industrial software, with a purpose to show the degree of interaction required to cover the code as well as finding faults. We applied Q-EMCQ on 37 real-world industrial programs written in Function Block Diagram (FBD) language, which is used for developing a train control management system at Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB. The results show that Q-EMCQ is an efficient technique for test case generation. Addition- ally, unlike the t-wise test suite generation, which deals with the minimization problem, we have also subjected Q-EMCQ to a maximization problem involving the general module clustering to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. The results show the Q-EMCQ is also capable of outperforming the original EMCQ as well as several recent meta/hyper-heuristic including modified choice function, Tabu high-level hyperheuristic, teaching learning-based optimization, sine cosine algorithm, and symbiotic optimization search in clustering quality within comparable execution time. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T03:58:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | ump-29225 |
| institution | Universiti Malaysia Pahang |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T03:58:04Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | ump-292252025-09-25T06:47:40Z https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/ An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. S. Ahmed, Bestoun Enoiu, Eduard Afzal, Wasif Kamal Z., Zamli QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science QA76 Computer software Hyper-heuristic is a new methodology for the adaptive hybridization of meta-heuristic algorithms to derive a general algorithm for solving optimization problems. This work focuses on the selection type of hyper-heuristic, called the exponential Monte Carlo with counter (EMCQ). Current implementations rely on the memory-less selection that can be counterproductive as the selected search operator may not (historically) be the best performing operator for the current search instance. Addressing this issue, we propose to integrate the memory into EMCQ for combinatorial t-wise test suite generation using reinforcement learning based on the Q-learning mechanism, called Q-EMCQ. The limited application of combinatorial test generation on industrial programs can impact the use of such techniques as Q-EMCQ. Thus, there is a need to evaluate this kind of approach against relevant industrial software, with a purpose to show the degree of interaction required to cover the code as well as finding faults. We applied Q-EMCQ on 37 real-world industrial programs written in Function Block Diagram (FBD) language, which is used for developing a train control management system at Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB. The results show that Q-EMCQ is an efficient technique for test case generation. Addition- ally, unlike the t-wise test suite generation, which deals with the minimization problem, we have also subjected Q-EMCQ to a maximization problem involving the general module clustering to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. The results show the Q-EMCQ is also capable of outperforming the original EMCQ as well as several recent meta/hyper-heuristic including modified choice function, Tabu high-level hyperheuristic, teaching learning-based optimization, sine cosine algorithm, and symbiotic optimization search in clustering quality within comparable execution time. Springer 2020 Article PeerReviewed pdf en cc_by_4 https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/1/2.%20An%20evaluation%20of%20Monte%20Carlo-based%20hyper-heuristic.pdf S. Ahmed, Bestoun and Enoiu, Eduard and Afzal, Wasif and Kamal Z., Zamli (2020) An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. Methodologies and Application, 24 (18). pp. 13929-13954. ISSN 1432-7643. (Published) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-020-04769-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-020-04769-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-020-04769-z |
| spellingShingle | QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science QA76 Computer software S. Ahmed, Bestoun Enoiu, Eduard Afzal, Wasif Kamal Z., Zamli An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title | An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title_full | An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title_fullStr | An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title_full_unstemmed | An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title_short | An evaluation of Monte Carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| title_sort | evaluation of monte carlo-based hyper-heuristic for interaction testing of industrial embedded software applications. |
| topic | QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science QA76 Computer software |
| url | https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/ https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/ https://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29225/ |