An efficient selection strategy for digital circuit evolution

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new modification of Cartesian Genetic Programming (CGP) that enables to optimize digital circuits more significantly than standard CGP. We argue that considering fully functional but not necessarily smallest-discovered individual as the parent for new population can decrease the number of harmful mutations and so improve the search space exploration. This phenomenon was confirmed on common benchmarks such as combinational multipliers and the LGSynth91 circuits. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.