In computer science, model checking or property checking is a method for checking whether a finitestate model of a system meets a given specification a. Kurshan, model checking and abstraction 40 a state is a snapshot or instantaneous description of the system that captures the values of the variables at a particular instant of time. Then, we define a classification and comparison framework and compare model checking software architecture techniques according to it. Symbolic model checking has been highly successful when applied to hardware systems. Model checking is bound to be the preeminent source for research, teaching, and industrial practice on this important subject.
In computer science, a binary decision diagram bdd or branching program is a data structure that is used to represent a boolean function. Abstraction is certainly one of the most important techniques for reducing state space in software model checking. In symbolic software model checking, most approaches use predicates as symbolic representation of the state space, and smt solvers for computations on the. Splitting strategies for islanding operation of largescale. However, model checking has been held back by the state explosion problem, which is the problem that the number of states in a system grows exponentially in the number of system components. Symmetry in temporal logic model checking department of. To algorithmically check whether a program satisfies a specification. Sm2smv a tool for facilitating dependable software. Carl pixley independently developed a similar algorithm, as did the french researchers, coudert and madre. Techniques for symbolic model checking mostly use either automata 8, or obdd s for the representation of all the parameters needed by the algorithms. State space abstraction, having been essential for verifying designs of industrial. Satbased bounded model checking bmc 1 was originally proposed as a complementary technique to obddbased model checking for the automatic analysis of. Obdd 5 called also mod2 obdd or parity obdd is an extension of obdd data structure, namely there are. Introduction many software as well digital hardware automatic synthe.
Model checking constructs a behavioral model of the system using formal concepts such as operations, states, events and actions. Model checking is a technique for verifying finite state concurrent systems such as sequential circuit designs and communication protocols. The model is usually expressed as a directed graph consisting of nodes and edges. Symbolic model checking with bdds ken mcmillan implemented a version of the ctl model checking algorithm using binary decision diagrams in 1987. Obdds can effectively scale and can provide universal plans for complex planning domains. We first introduce a technique for the translation of interpreted systems into boolean formulae, and then present a. Towards symbolic model checking for multiagent systems via.
Bounded model checking of software using smt solvers. Developed independently by clarke, emerson, and sistla and by queille and sifakis in early 1980s. Model checking programs are now being commercially marketed. Allen emerson, working in the usa, and joseph sifakis working independently in france, authored seminal papers that founded what has become the highly successful field of model checking. Ordered binary decision diagrams obdd 21 form the basic data structure for symbolic model checking. Sm2smv a tool for facilitating dependable software requirements analysis using model checking huigang li andrew j.
Much research has been devoted to ameliorating this problem. Techniques for symbolic model checking mostly use either automata 8, or obdd s for the representation of all the parameters needed by. Bdds are extensively used in cad software to synthesize circuits logic synthesis and in formal verification. A symbolic model checking approach in formal verification of. A classification and comparison of model checking software. In the early 1980s clarke and emerson proposed model checking, a method for automatic and algorithmic verification of finite state concurrent systems 10.
Obdd for f and a worst case execution time linear in nr, being n jx j the number of input arguments for functions in f and r the number of functions in f. The goal of this paper is to investigate the stateoftheart in model checking software architectures. For this purpose, we first define the main activities in a model checking software architecture process. Bdds enabled handling much larger concurrent systems. Specifications are written in propositional temporal logic. In several software model checkers, slam 20, 21, blast. Clarke and qinsi wang computer science department, carnegie mellon university, usa abstract. We present a methodology for the verification of multiagent systems, whose properties are specified by means of a modal logic that includes a temporal, an epistemic, and a modal operator to reason about correct behaviour of agents. The input and the property that is being tested are then converted to the internal representation of the model checker. An ordered binary decision diagram obdd is an ordered decision tree. Symbolic model checking method used by most industrial strength model checkers. Splitting strategies for islanding operation of largescale power systems using obdd based methods kai sun, dazhong zheng, and qiang lu, fellow, ieee abstract system splitting problem ss problem is to determine proper splitting points or called splitting strategies to split the entire interconnected transmission network into islands. Specifically, we provide a data point by reporting on a positive experience in model checking a large software system requirements specification.
An obdd based method for synthesis of boolean reversible. Model checking and expert system approaches to attack. Symmetry in temporal logic model checking alice miller, alastair donaldson, and muffy calder university of glasgow temporal logic model checking involves checking the statespace of a model of a system to determine whether errors can occur in the system. We present the underlying semantics of the specification language supported and the algorithms implemented in mcmas, including its fairness and. The model checkers suffer some weaknesses such as state space explosion problem that has high memory consumption and time complexity. Even if ordered binary decision diagrams obdds can be combined with other methodologies such as abstraction and bounded model checking, developing veri cation techniques on alternative, potentially more e cient, symbolic structures remains of great interest. Since the methodologies often use both model checking and theorem proving techniques, implementing new tools becomes the main bottleneck in their development.
Model checking is an influential method to verify complex interactions, concurrent and distributed systems. Normally, labeling algorithm takes a ctl formula and returns a set of states manipulating intermediate set of states. Synthesizing control software from boolean relations. Advanced model checking reducing obdds generate an obdd or bdt for a switching function, then reduce by means of a recursive descent over the obdd elimination of duplicate leafs for a duplicate 0leaf or 1leaf, redirect all incoming edges to just one of them elimination of dont care nonleaf vertices if succ 0vsucc. Advanced model checking ordered binary decision diagram let. The state explosion problem remains a major hurdle in applying symbolic model checking to large hardware designs. We present an algorithm for model checking temporalepistemic properties of multiagent systems, expressed in the formalism of interpreted systems.
Model checking is an automatic veri cation technique for large state transition systems. Towards symbolic model checking for multiagent systems. Apr 26, 2015 we present mcmas, a model checker for the verification of multiagent systems. Mcmas supports efficient symbolic techniques for the verification of multiagent systems against specifications representing temporal, epistemic and strategic properties. In particular, model checking is automatic and usually quite fast. Symbolic model checking with isomorphism exploiting transition relations systems, like e. There are various algorithms to reorder the variables and nd a di erent obdd to suit our speed and space requirements. The key idea is to encode bounded behaviours of the system that enjoy some given property as a. May 18, 2015 wie erstellt man ein binares entscheidungsdiagramm. The representations are passed to the model checking algorithm. We are interested in the question of whether or not model checking techniques can be applied to large software specifications.
Automatic verification of multiagent systems by model checking via. In our example, we obtain the bdd shown on the lefthand side of fig. We first introduce a technique for the translation of interpreted systems into boolean formulae, and then present a model checking algorithm based on this translation. Bddbased model checkers, such as smv mcmillan 1993, have been. Ken mcmillan implemented a version of the ctl model checking algorithm using. On a more abstract level, bdds can be considered as a compressed representation of sets or relations. This is the first truly comprehensive treatment of a line of research that has gone from conception to industrial practice in only two decades.
Introduction the complexity of dependable software and electronic. Bddbased software model checking with cpachecker springerlink. Four principal techniques for ensuring the correctness of hardware and software systems. After this, we summarise the approach to model checking via obdds. Counterexampleguided abstraction refinement for symbolic. Symbolic model checking algorithms are based on manipulations with sets of states of the transition system where sets of states are represented by ordered binary decision diagrams obdds. Model checking article about model checking by the free. Formal verification is normally associated with traditional software engineering, where. Obd auto doctor is a musthave tool for everyone interested in getting to know their cars better. Such planning approaches use ordered binary decision diagrams obdds to encode a planning domain as a nondeterministic finite automaton and then apply fast algorithms from model checking to search for a solution.
Bdd representing a set of states can be much smaller than the set it represents. Satbased bounded model checking bmc 1 was originally proposed as a complementary technique to obdd based model checking for the automatic analysis of. The size of the obdd depends on the order of the variables in the system model for computation tree logicctl. Obd auto doctor is the leading car diagnostic software. We present mcmas, a model checker for the verification of multiagent systems.
There are several lesser known applications of bdd, including fault tree analysis, bayesian reasoning, product configuration, and private information retrieval. Model checking is an automatic technique for verifying. The specification is trans lated to an input for the model checker, possibly with some simplifications. The verification technique relies on model checking via ordered binary decision diagrams. Choi y, rayadurgam s and heimdahl m automatic abstraction for model checking software systems with interrelated numeric constraints proceedings of the 8th european software engineering conference held jointly with 9th acm sigsoft international symposium on foundations of. We present the underlying semantics of the specification language supported and the algorithms implemented in mcmas, including its fairness. Bounded model checking of software using smt solvers instead of sat solvers. Improving bdd based symbolic model checking with isomorphism. It has a number of advantages over traditional approaches that are based on simulation, testing, and deductive reasoning.
Temporal logic model checking model checking is an automatic verification technique for finite state concurrent systems. Symbolic model checking by using bdds has greatly improved the applicability of model checking. Automatic verification of multiagent systems by model. One main reason is the complex transition relation of systems.
In this paper, instead of relying on existing model checkers, we build upon the algorithm presented in 16 to verify properties of. Obdds application symbolic model checking model checking using obdds is called symbolic model checking obdds allow systems with a large space to be verified. This is typically associated with hardware or software systems, where the. Bounded model checking of software using smt solvers instead. Due to structural differences between hardware and software based implementations see the discussion in section i, the method in 3 is not directly applicable here. Bdds traditionally used to represent boolean functions. More recently, it has been extended to the domain of software verification as well, and several bddbased model checkers for boolean. An algorithm for model checking is introduced in the. Choi y, rayadurgam s and heimdahl m automatic abstraction for model checking software systems with interrelated numeric constraints proceedings of the 8th european software engineering conference held jointly with 9th acm sigsoft international symposium on foundations of software engineering, 164174.
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