Alternative approach to calculate the structure matrix of Boolean network with semi-tensor product

摘要

The structure matrix with semi-tensor product provides a basic tool for analysing the characteristics of Boolean networks (BNs). Directly calculating the structure matrix of BNs is very complex and requires considerable computational work. To overcome the drawbacks of the conventional method, this study gives an alternative way to obtain the network structure matrix through a series of matrix transformations. The key of the proposed new method is applying the superposition and expansion techniques to the initial matrix and the target matrix, which dramatically reduces computational complexity. An example is given to analyse the structure of the BN, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.