A New Technique for the Fast Minimization of Switching Functions

The minimization of switching functions involving many variables is a difficult task. This paper presents a new minimization procedure that allows this process to be implemented with reduced computational effort. This procedure, designated as the directed-search algorithm, is applicable to both manual and computer-programmed minimization. The details of the algorithm are presented and illustrated by example. Comparative run-times between another minimization program and the directed-search algorithm, as implemented in Fortran, are also given.