A memetic algorithm for high-strength covering array generation

Abstract

Covering array generation (CAG) is the key research problem in combinatorial testing and is an NP-complete problem. With the increasing complexity of software under test and the need for higher interaction covering strength t, the techniques for constructing high-strength covering arrays are expected. This paper presents a hybrid heuristic memetic algorithm named QSSMA for high-strength CAG problem. The sub-optimal solution acceptance rate is introduced to generate multiple test cases after each iteration to improve the efficiency of constructing high-covering strength test suites. The QSSMA method could successfully build high-strength test suites for some instances where t up to 15 within one day cutoff time and report five new best test suite size records. Extensive experiments demonstrate that QSSMA is a competitive method compared to state-of-the-art methods.