Finite Automata

FINITE AUTOMATA
• Finite Automata are good models for computers with an extremely

limited amount of memory.
• The controller for an automatic door is one example of an application
of finite automaton.
• Often found at supermarket entrances and exits, automatic door
swing open when sensing that a person is approaching.
• An automatic door has a pad in front to detect the presence of a
person about to walk through the doorway.
• Another pad is located to the rear of the doorway so that the
controller can hold the door open long enough for the person to pass
all the way through and also so that the door does not strike someone
standing behind it as it opens.
Fig. 1 – A finite automaton called M1 that has 3 states
• The controller is in either of two states: OPEN or CLOSED, representing

the corresponding condition of the door.
Fig. 2 – State diagram for automatic door controller
• In figure 2, there are 4 possible input conditions: FRONT (meaning that a

person is standing on the pad in front of the doorway), REAR ( meaning
that a person is standing on the pad to the rear of the doorway), BOTH
(meaning that people are standing on both pads), and NEITHER
(meaning that no one is standing on either pad).
Fig. 3 – State transition table for automatic door controller
• The controller moves from state to state, depending on the input it

receives.
• When in the CLOSED state and receiving input NEITHER or REAR, it
remains in the CLOSED state.
• If the input BOTH is received, it stays CLOSED because opening the door
risks knocking someone over on the rear pad.
• If the input FRONT arrives, it moves to the OPEN state.
• In the OPEN state, if input FRONT, REAR, or BOTH is received, it remains
OPEN.
• If input NEITHER arrives, it returns to CLOSED.
• Fig. 4 is called the state diagram of M1

• It has three states, labeled q1, q2 and q3.
• q1 is the start state. It is indicated by the arrow pointing at it from nowhere.
• q2 is the accept state. The one with a double circle.
• Transitions – the arrows going from one state to another
• When the automaton receives an input string such as 1101, it processes that
string and produces an output. The output is either accept or reject.
• The processing begins in M1’s start state.

• The automaton receives the symbols from the input string one by one from
left to right.
• After reading each symbol, M1 moves from one state to another along the
transition that has that symbol as its label.
• When it reads the last symbol, M1 produces it output.
• The output is accept it M1 is now in an accept state and reject if it is not.
• Example: When we feed the input string 1101 to the machine M1 in Fig. 4,
the processing proceeds as follows:
1. Start in state q1.

2. Read 1, follow transition from q1 to q2.
5. Read 1, follow transition from q3 to q2
6. Accept because M1 is in an accept state q2 at the end of the input.
• The machines accepts the following strings: 1, 01, 11 and 0101010101.

• In fact M1 accepts any string that ends with a 1 as it goes to its accept state
q2 whenever it reads the symbol 1.
• It also accepts strings 100, 0100, 110000, and 0101000000, and any string
that ends with an even number of 0s following the last 1.
• It rejects other strings, such as 0, 10, 101000.
Formal Definition of a Finite Automaton
• Reasons for defining finite automaton:

• A formal definition is precise. It resolves uncertainties
about what is allowed in a finite automaton.
• A formal definition provides notation. Good notation
helps you think and express your thoughts clearly.
• A finite automaton has several parts:

• It has a set of states and rules for going from one state to another,
depending on the input symbol.
• It has an input alphabet that indicates the allowed input symbols.
• It has a start state and a set of accept states.
• A formal automaton says that a finite automaton is a list of those five
objects: set of states, input alphabet, rules for moving, start state, and
accept states.
• In mathematical language a list of five elements is often called a 5-
tuple. Hence, we define a finite automaton to be a 5-type consisting
of these five parts.
• We use something called a transition function, frequently denoted by

, to determine the rules for moving.
• If the finite automaton has an arrow from a state x to a state y labeled
with the input symbol 1, that means that, if the automaton is in state
x when it reads a 1, it then moves to state y.
• We can indicate the same thing with the transition function by saying
that  (x, 1) = y.
Fig. 5 The finite automaton M1.
• We can describe M1 formally by writing M1 = (Q, , , q1, F), where

1. Q = {q1, q2, q3}
2.  = {0, 1}
3.  = is describe as
4. q1 is the start state

5. F = {q2}
• If A is the set of all strings that machine M accepts, we say that A is the
language of the machine M and write L (M) = A.
• We say that M recognizes A or that M accepts A.
• A machine may accept several strings, but it always recognizes only one
language. If the machine accepts no strings, it still recognizes one
language – namely, the empty language .
• In our example, let

• A = {w | w contains at least one 1 and an even number of 0s follow the
last 1.
Then L (M1) = A, or equivalently, M1 recognizes A.

• In the formal description, M2 = ({q1,q2}, {0,1}, , q1, {q2}). The transition

function is

Exercise
The following are the state diagram of DFA, M1. Answer the following questions about
this machine.
A.
a. What is the start state?
b. What is the set of accept states?
c. What sequence of states does the machine
go through on input aabb?
d. Does the machine accept the string aabb?
e. Does the machine accept the string  ?
B. Give the formal definition of the machine

M1.
Quiz
The following are the state diagram of DFA, M2. Answer the following questions about
this machine.
A.
a. What is the start state?
b. What is the set of accept states?
c. What sequence of states does the
machine go through on input aabb?
d. Does the machine accept the string aabb?
e. Does the machine accept the string  ?
B. Give the formal description of the machine

M2.

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FINITE AUTOMATA

• Finite Automata are good models for computers with an extremely

• The controller is in either of two states: OPEN or CLOSED, representing

• In figure 2, there are 4 possible input conditions: FRONT (meaning that a

• The controller moves from state to state, depending on the input it

• Fig. 4 is called the state diagram of M1

• The processing begins in M1’s start state.

1. Start in state q1.

• The machines accepts the following strings: 1, 01, 11 and 0101010101.

• Reasons for defining finite automaton:

• A finite automaton has several parts:

• We use something called a transition function, frequently denoted by

Fig. 5 The finite automaton M1.

• We can describe M1 formally by writing M1 = (Q, , , q1, F), where

4. q1 is the start state

• In our example, let

Then L (M1) = A, or equivalently, M1 recognizes A.

Fig. 6 The finite automaton M2.

• In the formal description, M2 = ({q1,q2}, {0,1}, , q1, {q2}). The transition

Fig. 7 The finite automaton M2.

Fig. 7 The finite automaton M4.

B. Give the formal definition of the machine

B. Give the formal description of the machine

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