Detecting arrays for effects of multiple interacting factors

Detecting arrays provide test suites for complex engineered systems in which many factors interact. The determination of which interactions have a significant impact on system behaviour requires not only that each interaction appear in a test, but also that its effect can be distinguished from those of other significant interactions. In this paper, compact representations of detecting arrays using vectors over the finite field are developed. Covering strong separating hash families exploit linear independence over the field, while the weaker elongated covering perfect hash families permit some linear dependence. For both, probabilistic analyses are employed to establish effective upper bounds on the number of tests needed in a detecting array for a wide variety of parameters. The analyses underlie efficient algorithms for the explicit construction of detecting arrays.