Patent ID: 7853633

Claim:
A computer implemented system for cost-effectively generating random permutations of elements, said system comprising a memory device for storing a list of ranges comprising at least one range, wherein each range in the list of ranges resents a consecutively ordered set of elements to be permuted, wherein each range in the list of ranges comprises a pair of elements respectively lowest and highest in the order of the respective set of elements, and wherein the list of ranges initially comprises a single range; a processor device connected to said memory device for performing the steps of: randomly selecting a range from the list of ranges, removing the selected range from the list of ranges, randomly selecting an element from the selected range, removing the selected element from the selected range, forming from any remaining elements thereof at least two further ranges, and storing in the memory device the at least two further ranges in the list of ranges; wherein the processor repeatedly applies the steps in a test generation tool until all elements have been removed from the initial single range, the permutation being formed by order of removal of the elements.