One of the advantages of temporal-logic modelchecking tools is their ability to accompany a negative answer to the correctness query by a counterexample to the satisfaction of the specification in the system. On the other hand, when the answer to the correctness query is positive, most model-checking tools provide no witness for the satisfaction of the specification. In the last few years there has been growing awareness to the importance of suspecting the system or the specification of containing an error also in the case model checking succeeds. The main justification of such suspects are possible errors in the modeling of the system or of the specification. Many such errors can be detected by further automatic reasoning about the system and the environment. In particular, Beer et al. described a method for the detection of vacuous satisfaction of temporal logic specifications and the generation of interesting witnesses for the satisfaction of specifications. For example, verifying a sy...

We present an automata-theoretic framework to the verification of concurrent and nondeterministic programs. The basic idea is that to verify that a program P is correct one writes a program A that receives the computation of P as input and diverges only on incorrect computations of P . Now P is correct if and only if a program PA , obtained by combining P and A, terminates. We formalize this idea in a framework of !-automata with a recursive set of states. This unifies previous works on verification of fair termination and verification of temporal properties. 1 Introduction In this paper we present an automata-theoretic framework that unifies several trends in the area of concurrent program verification. The trends are temporal logic, model checking, automata theory, and fair termination. Let us start with a survey of these trends. In 1977 Pnueli suggested the use of temporal logic in the verification of concurrent programs [Pn77]. The basic motivation is that in the verificat...

In this thesis, we present ecient implementation techniques for probabilistic model checking, a method which can be used to analyse probabilistic systems such as randomised distributed algorithms, fault-tolerant processes and communication networks. A probabilistic model checker inputs a probabilistic model and a speci cation, such as \the message will be delivered with probability 1", \the probability of shutdown occurring is at most 0.02" or \the probability of a leader being elected within 5 rounds is at least 0.98", and can automatically verify if the speci cation is true in the model.

We briefly survey the background and history of modal and temporal logics. We then concentrate on the modal mu-calculus, a modal logic which subsumes most other commonly used logics. We provide an informal introduction, followed by a summary of the main theoretical issues. We then look at model-checking, and finally at the relationship of modal logics to other formalisms.

. There is a growing need for reliable methods of designing correct reactive systems such as computer operating systems and air traffic control systems. It is widely agreed that certain formalisms such as temporal logic, when coupled with automated reasoning support, provide the most effective and reliable means of specifying and ensuring correct behavior of such systems. This paper discusses known complexity and expressiveness results for a number of such logics in common use and describes key technical tools for obtaining essentially optimal mechanical reasoning algorithms. However, the emphasis is on underlying intuitions and broad themes rather than technical intricacies. 1 Introduction There is a growing need for reliable methods of designing correct reactive systems. These systems are characterized by ongoing, typically nonterminating and highly nondeterministic behavior. Examples include operating systems, network protocols, and air traffic control systems. There is w...

We extend the ontology of the situation calculus to provide for the representation of time and event occurrences. We do this by defining a time line corresponding to a sequence of situations (called actual situations) beginning with the initial situation. Actual situations are totally ordered and the actions that lead to different actual situations are said to have occurred. This exension to the situation calculus permits one to express truths about the state of the world at different times. For example, we can state that at some point in the future certain fluent will be true. We can also express constraints on the occurrences of events, for example, that after releasing a cup, it will eventually hit the floor. Our version of the situation calculus subsumes other temporal logics. In particular, we show that the modal Temporal Logic of Concurrency [4] can be embedded in the extended situation calculus. Our extension can also realize the essential features of other first ord...

ion: The Cornerstones of Practical Formal Verification. Yonit Kesten 1 , Amir Pnueli 2 1 Dept. of Communication Systems Engineering, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel, e-mail: ykesten@bgumail.bgu.ac.il 2 Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, e-mail: amir@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il The date of receipt and acceptance will be inserted by the editor Abstract. In spite of the impressive progress in the development of the two main methods for formal verification of reactive systems -- Symbolic Model Checking and Deductive Verification, they are still limited in their ability to handle large systems. It is generally recognized that the only way these methods can ever scale up is by the extensive use of abstraction and modularization, which break the task of verifying a large system into several smaller tasks of verifying simpler systems. In this paper, we review the two main tools of compositionality and abstrac...

The problem of formally analyzing properties of real-time systems is addressed. A method is proposed that allows specifying system properties in the TRIO language (an extension of temporal logic suitable to deal explicitly with the “time ” variable and to measure it) and modeling the system as a timed Petri net. It is argued that such an approach is more general than analyzing program properties. The proof method is based on an axiomatization of timed Petri nets in terms of TRIO so that their properties can be derived as suitable theorems in much the same spirit as classical Hoare’s method allows proving properties of programs coded in a Pascal-like language. The method is then exemplified through two classical “benchmarks ” of the literature on concurrent and real-time systems, namely an elevator system and the dining philosophers problem. A thorough review of the related literature and a comparison thereof with the new method is also provided. Possible alternative methods, theoretical extensions, and practical applications are briefly discussed.

There is a growing recognition of the need to apply formal mathematical methods in the design of "high confidence" computing systems. Such systems operate in safety critical contexts (e.g., air traffic control systems) or where errors could have major adverse economic consequences (e.g., banking networks). The problem is especially acute in the design of many reactive systems which must exhibit correct ongoing behavior, yet are not amenable to thorough testing due to their inherently nondeterministic nature. One useful approach for specifying and reasoning about correctness of such systems is temporal logic model checking, which can provide an efficient and expressive tool for automatic verification that a finite state system meets a correctness specification formulated in temporal logic. We describe model checking algorithms and discuss their application. To do this, we focus attention on a particularly important type of temporal logic known as the Mu-calculus.

We review and discuss here some of the existing approaches based on CLP (Constraint Logic Programming) for verifying properties of various kinds of state-transition systems.