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http://dx.doi.org/10.7236/JIIBC.2015.15.1.207

Sudoku Algorithm  

Lee, Sang-Un (Dept. of Multimedia Eng., Gangneung-Wonju National University)
Publication Information
The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication / v.15, no.1, 2015 , pp. 207-215 More about this Journal
Abstract
This paper proposes a solution-yielding linear time algorithm to NP-complete Sudoku, to which no polynomial time algorithm has been proposed. The proposed algorithm is performed on blocks in the descending order of the number of clues they contain. It firstly determines all numbers that could possibly occur in the blank rows and columns of each block. By deriving an intersecting value of corresponding rows and columns, it assigns the final number for each blank. When tested on the traditional $9{\times}9$ Sudoku, the proposed algorithm has succeeded in obtaining the solution through performance of 9 times, the exact number of the blocks. Test results on modified Jigsaw Sudoku (9 blocks) and Hypersudoku (13 blocks) also show its success in deriving the solutions by execuring 9 and 13 times respectively. Accordingly, this paper proves that the Sudoku problem is in fact P-problem.
Keywords
Sudoku problem; exact cover problem; NP-complete; frequency; cardinality;
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