On the benefits of knowledge compilation for feature-model analyses

Abstract

Feature models are commonly used to specify the valid configurations of product lines. As industrial feature models are typically complex, researchers and practitioners employ various automated analyses to study the configuration spaces. Many of these automated analyses require that numerous complex computations are executed on the same feature model, for example by querying a SAT or SATsolver. With knowledge compilation, feature models can be compiled in a one-time effort to a target language that enables polynomial-time queries for otherwise more complex problems. In this work, we elaborate on the potential of employing knowledge compilation on feature models. First, we gather various feature-model analyses and study their computational complexity with regard to the underlying computational problem and the number of solver queries required for the respective analysis. Second, we collect knowledge-compilation target languages and map feature-model analyses to the languages that make the analysis tractable. Third, we empirically evaluate publicly available knowledge compilers to further inspect the potential benefits of knowledge-compilation target languages.