Abstract

The simulation preorder for labeled transition systems is defined locally as a game that relates states with their immediate successor states. Simulation enjoys many appealing properties. First, simulation has a fully abstract semantics: system S simulates system I iff every computation tree embedded in the unrolling of I can be embedded also in the unrolling of S. Second, simulation has a logical characterization: S simulates I iff every universal branching-time formula satisfied by S is satisfied also by I. It follows that simulation is a suitable notion of implementation, and it is the coarsest abstraction of a system that preserves universal branching-time properties. Third, based on its local definition, simulation between finite-state systems can be checked in polynomial time. Finally, simulation implies trace-containment, which cannot be defined locally and requires polynomial space for verification. Hence simulation is widely used both in manual and in automatic verification. ...

Citations