On line 2- satisfiability

We deal with the followingon-line 2-satisfiability problemP(m, n): starting fromC(0)=true, consider a sequence ofm Boolean formulasC(k) (inn variables and in conjunctive normal form), each of them being the intersection of the previous one with a single clause which is the union of two literals. Solve the sequence of 2-satisfiability problemsC(k)=true,k=1,...,m. It is well known that a 2-satisfiability problem involvingm clauses can be solved inO(m) time. Thus, by a naive approach one can solveP(m, n) in overallO(m 2) time. We present an algorithm with overallO(nm) time complexity, which for every formula not only checks its satisfiability, but also actually computes a solution (if any), and moreover, detects all forced and all identical variables. Our algorithm makes use of an efficient on-line transitive closure procedure by Italiano. We discuss two applications to the design of integrated electronic circuits and to edge classification in automated perception.