145 research outputs found
Design and Optimisation of the FlyFast Front-end for Attribute-based Coordination
Collective Adaptive Systems (CAS) consist of a large number of interacting
objects. The design of such systems requires scalable analysis tools and
methods, which have necessarily to rely on some form of approximation of the
system's actual behaviour. Promising techniques are those based on mean-field
approximation. The FlyFast model-checker uses an on-the-fly algorithm for
bounded PCTL model-checking of selected individual(s) in the context of very
large populations whose global behaviour is approximated using deterministic
limit mean-field techniques. Recently, a front-end for FlyFast has been
proposed which provides a modelling language, PiFF in the sequel, for the
Predicate-based Interaction for FlyFast. In this paper we present details of
PiFF design and an approach to state-space reduction based on probabilistic
bisimulation for inhomogeneous DTMCs.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2017, arXiv:1707.0366
Weak Markovian Bisimulation Congruences and Exact CTMC-Level Aggregations for Concurrent Processes
We have recently defined a weak Markovian bisimulation equivalence in an
integrated-time setting, which reduces sequences of exponentially timed
internal actions to individual exponentially timed internal actions having the
same average duration and execution probability as the corresponding sequences.
This weak Markovian bisimulation equivalence is a congruence for sequential
processes with abstraction and turns out to induce an exact CTMC-level
aggregation at steady state for all the considered processes. However, it is
not a congruence with respect to parallel composition. In this paper, we show
how to generalize the equivalence in a way that a reasonable tradeoff among
abstraction, compositionality, and exactness is achieved for concurrent
processes. We will see that, by enhancing the abstraction capability in the
presence of concurrent computations, it is possible to retrieve the congruence
property with respect to parallel composition, with the resulting CTMC-level
aggregation being exact at steady state only for a certain subset of the
considered processes.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2012, arXiv:1207.055
On-the-fly Fast Mean-Field Model-Checking: Extended Version
A novel, scalable, on-the-fly model-checking procedure is presented to verify
bounded PCTL properties of selected individuals in the context of very large
systems of independent interacting objects. The proposed procedure combines
on-the-fly model checking techniques with deterministic mean-field
approximation in discrete time. The asymptotic correctness of the procedure is
shown and some results of the application of a prototype implementation of the
FlyFast model-checker are presented
A Definition Scheme for Quantitative Bisimulation
FuTS, state-to-function transition systems are generalizations of labeled
transition systems and of familiar notions of quantitative semantical models as
continuous-time Markov chains, interactive Markov chains, and Markov automata.
A general scheme for the definition of a notion of strong bisimulation
associated with a FuTS is proposed. It is shown that this notion of
bisimulation for a FuTS coincides with the coalgebraic notion of behavioral
equivalence associated to the functor on Set given by the type of the FuTS. For
a series of concrete quantitative semantical models the notion of bisimulation
as reported in the literature is proven to coincide with the notion of
quantitative bisimulation obtained from the scheme. The comparison includes
models with orthogonal behaviour, like interactive Markov chains, and with
multiple levels of behavior, like Markov automata. As a consequence of the
general result relating FuTS bisimulation and behavioral equivalence we obtain,
in a systematic way, a coalgebraic underpinning of all quantitative
bisimulations discussed.Comment: In Proceedings QAPL 2015, arXiv:1509.0816
Model Checking Spatial Logics for Closure Spaces
Spatial aspects of computation are becoming increasingly relevant in Computer
Science, especially in the field of collective adaptive systems and when
dealing with systems distributed in physical space. Traditional formal
verification techniques are well suited to analyse the temporal evolution of
programs; however, properties of space are typically not taken into account
explicitly. We present a topology-based approach to formal verification of
spatial properties depending upon physical space. We define an appropriate
logic, stemming from the tradition of topological interpretations of modal
logics, dating back to earlier logicians such as Tarski, where modalities
describe neighbourhood. We lift the topological definitions to the more general
setting of closure spaces, also encompassing discrete, graph-based structures.
We extend the framework with a spatial surrounded operator, a propagation
operator and with some collective operators. The latter are interpreted over
arbitrary sets of points instead of individual points in space. We define
efficient model checking procedures, both for the individual and the collective
spatial fragments of the logic and provide a proof-of-concept tool
Bisimulation of Labelled State-to-Function Transition Systems Coalgebraically
Labeled state-to-function transition systems, FuTS for short, are
characterized by transitions which relate states to functions of states over
general semirings, equipped with a rich set of higher-order operators. As such,
FuTS constitute a convenient modeling instrument to deal with process languages
and their quantitative extensions in particular. In this paper, the notion of
bisimulation induced by a FuTS is addressed from a coalgebraic point of view. A
correspondence result is established stating that FuTS-bisimilarity coincides
with behavioural equivalence of the associated functor. As generic examples,
the equivalences underlying substantial fragments of major examples of
quantitative process algebras are related to the bisimilarity of specific FuTS.
The examples range from a stochastic process language, PEPA, to a language for
Interactive Markov Chains, IML, a (discrete) timed process language, TPC, and a
language for Markov Automata, MAL. The equivalences underlying these languages
are related to the bisimilarity of their specific FuTS. By the correspondence
result coalgebraic justification of the equivalences of these calculi is
obtained. The specific selection of languages, besides covering a large variety
of process interaction models and modelling choices involving quantities,
allows us to show different classes of FuTS, namely so-called simple FuTS,
combined FuTS, nested FuTS, and general FuTS
Specifying and Verifying Properties of Space - Extended Version
The interplay between process behaviour and spatial aspects of computation
has become more and more relevant in Computer Science, especially in the field
of collective adaptive systems, but also, more generally, when dealing with
systems distributed in physical space. Traditional verification techniques are
well suited to analyse the temporal evolution of programs; properties of space
are typically not explicitly taken into account. We propose a methodology to
verify properties depending upon physical space. We define an appropriate
logic, stemming from the tradition of topological interpretations of modal
logics, dating back to earlier logicians such as Tarski, where modalities
describe neighbourhood. We lift the topological definitions to a more general
setting, also encompassing discrete, graph-based structures. We further extend
the framework with a spatial until operator, and define an efficient model
checking procedure, implemented in a proof-of-concept tool.Comment: Presented at "Theoretical Computer Science" 2014, Rom
A uniform definition of stochastic process calculi
We introduce a unifying framework to provide the semantics of process algebras, including their quantitative variants useful for modeling quantitative aspects of behaviors. The unifying framework is then used to describe some of the most representative stochastic process algebras. This
provides a general and clear support for an understanding of their similarities and differences. The framework is based on State to Function Labeled Transition Systems, FuTSs for short, that are state-transition structures where each transition is a triple of the form (s; α;P). The first andthe second components are the source state, s, and the label, α, of the transition, while the third component is the continuation function, P, associating a value of a suitable type to each state s0. For example, in the case of stochastic process algebras the value of the continuation function on s0 represents the rate of the negative exponential distribution characterizing the duration/delay of the action performed to reach state s0 from s. We first provide the semantics of a simple formalism used to describe Continuous-Time Markov Chains, then we model a number of process algebras that permit parallel composition of models according to the two main interaction paradigms (multiparty and one-to-one synchronization). Finally, we deal with formalisms where actions and rates are kept separate and address the issues related to the coexistence of stochastic, probabilistic, and non-deterministic behaviors. For each formalism, we establish the formal correspondence between the FuTSs semantics and its original semantics
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