PEA-Toolkit - Related Publications

(with abstracts)

[MFHR08]

R. Meyer, J. Faber, J. Hoenicke, and A. Rybalchenko. Model checking duration calculus: A practical approach. Formal Aspects of Computing, 20(4-5):481-505, July 2008. ISSN 0934-5043 (Print) 1433-299X (Online).
[ bib | .pdf ]

Model checking of real-time systems against Duration Calculus (DC) specifications requires the translation of DC formulae into automata-based semantics. The existing algorithms provide a limited DC coverage and do not support compositional verification. We propose a translation algorithm that advances the applicability of model checking tools to realistic applications. Our algorithm significantly extends the subset of DC that can be checked automatically. The central part of the algorithm is the automatic decomposition of DC specifications into sub-properties that can be verified independently. The decomposition is based on a novel distributive law for DC. We implemented the algorithm in a tool chain for the automated verification of systems comprising data, communication, and real-time aspects. We applied the tool chain to verify safety properties in an industrial case study from the European Train Control System (ETCS).

Keywords: Model checking, Verification, Duration Calculus, Timed automata, Real-time systems, European Train Control System, Case study

[FJSS07]

Johannes Faber, Swen Jacobs, and Viorica Sofronie-Stokkermans. Verifying CSP-OZ-DC specifications with complex data types and timing parameters. In J. Davies and J. Gibbons, editors, Integrated Formal Methods, volume 4591 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 233-252. Springer-Verlag, July 2007.
[ bib | .pdf ]

We extend existing verification methods for CSP-OZ-DC to reason about real-time systems with complex data types and timing parameters. We show that important properties of systems can be encoded in well-behaved logical theories in which hierarchical reasoning is possible. Thus, testing invariants and bounded model checking can be reduced to checking satisfiability of ground formulae over a simple base theory. We illustrate the ideas by means of a simplified version of a case study from the European Train Control System standard.

[MFR06]

Roland Meyer, Johannes Faber, and Andrey Rybalchenko. Model checking duration calculus: A practical approach. In K. Barkaoui, A. Cavalcanti, and A. Cerone, editors, Theoretical Aspects of Computing - ICTAC 2006, volume 4281 of LNCS, pages 332-346, 2006. This publication is available at SpringerLink.
[ bib | http ]

Model checking of real-time systems with respect to Duration Calculus (DC) specifications requires the translation of DC formulae into automata-based semantics. This task is difficult to automate. The existing algorithms provide a limited DC coverage and do not support compositional verification. We propose a translation algorithm that advances the applicability of model checking tools to real world applications. Our algorithm significantly extends the subset of DC that can be handled. It decomposes DC specifications into sub-properties that can be verified independently. The decomposition bases on a novel distributive law for DC. We implemented the algorithm as part of our tool chain for the automated verification of systems comprising data, communication, and real-time aspects. Our translation facilitated a successful application of the tool chain on an industrial case study from the European Train Control System (ETCS).

[HM05]

Jochen Hoenicke and Patrick Maier. Model-checking of specifications integrating processes, data and time. In J.S. Fitzgerald, I.J. Hayes, and A. Tarlecki, editors, FM 2005, volume 3582 of LNCS, pages 465-480. Springer, 2005.
[ bib | .pdf ]

We present a new model-checking technique for CSP-OZ-DC, a combination of CSP, Object-Z and Duration Calculus, that allows reasoning about systems exhibiting communication, data and real-time aspects. As intermediate layer we will use a new kind of timed automata that preserve events and data variables of the specification. These automata have a simple operational semantics that is amenable to verification by a constraint-based abstraction-refinement model checker. By means of a case study, a simple elevator parameterised by the number of floors, we show that this approach admits model-checking parameterised and infinite state real-time systems.

[Hoe06]

J. Hoenicke. Combination of Processes, Data, and Time. PhD thesis, University of Oldenburg, Germany, 2006.
[ bib | .pdf ]