855 research outputs found
Explicit Model Checking of Very Large MDP using Partitioning and Secondary Storage
The applicability of model checking is hindered by the state space explosion
problem in combination with limited amounts of main memory. To extend its
reach, the large available capacities of secondary storage such as hard disks
can be exploited. Due to the specific performance characteristics of secondary
storage technologies, specialised algorithms are required. In this paper, we
present a technique to use secondary storage for probabilistic model checking
of Markov decision processes. It combines state space exploration based on
partitioning with a block-iterative variant of value iteration over the same
partitions for the analysis of probabilistic reachability and expected-reward
properties. A sparse matrix-like representation is used to store partitions on
secondary storage in a compact format. All file accesses are sequential, and
compression can be used without affecting runtime. The technique has been
implemented within the Modest Toolset. We evaluate its performance on several
benchmark models of up to 3.5 billion states. In the analysis of time-bounded
properties on real-time models, our method neutralises the state space
explosion induced by the time bound in its entirety.Comment: The final publication is available at Springer via
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24953-7_1
A Hierarchy of Scheduler Classes for Stochastic Automata
Stochastic automata are a formal compositional model for concurrent
stochastic timed systems, with general distributions and non-deterministic
choices. Measures of interest are defined over schedulers that resolve the
nondeterminism. In this paper we investigate the power of various theoretically
and practically motivated classes of schedulers, considering the classic
complete-information view and a restriction to non-prophetic schedulers. We
prove a hierarchy of scheduler classes w.r.t. unbounded probabilistic
reachability. We find that, unlike Markovian formalisms, stochastic automata
distinguish most classes even in this basic setting. Verification and strategy
synthesis methods thus face a tradeoff between powerful and efficient classes.
Using lightweight scheduler sampling, we explore this tradeoff and demonstrate
the concept of a useful approximative verification technique for stochastic
automata
Quantitative Verification: Formal Guarantees for Timeliness, Reliability and Performance
Computerised systems appear in almost all aspects of our daily lives, often in safety-critical scenarios such as embedded control systems in cars and aircraft
or medical devices such as pacemakers and sensors. We are thus increasingly reliant on these systems working correctly, despite often operating in unpredictable or unreliable environments. Designers of such devices need ways to guarantee that they will operate in a reliable and efficient manner.
Quantitative verification is a technique for analysing quantitative aspects of a system's design, such as timeliness, reliability or performance. It applies formal methods, based on a rigorous analysis of a mathematical model of the system, to automatically prove certain precisely specified properties, e.g. ``the airbag will always deploy within 20 milliseconds after a crash'' or ``the probability of both sensors failing simultaneously is less than 0.001''.
The ability to formally guarantee quantitative properties of this kind is beneficial across a wide range of application domains. For example, in safety-critical systems, it may be essential to establish credible bounds on the probability with which certain failures or combinations of failures can occur. In embedded control systems, it is often important to comply with strict constraints on timing or resources. More generally, being able to derive guarantees on precisely specified levels of performance or efficiency is a valuable tool in the design of, for example, wireless networking protocols, robotic systems or power management algorithms, to name but a few.
This report gives a short introduction to quantitative verification, focusing in particular on a widely used technique called model checking, and its generalisation to the analysis of quantitative aspects of a system such as timing, probabilistic behaviour or resource usage.
The intended audience is industrial designers and developers of systems such as those highlighted above who could benefit from the application of quantitative verification,but lack expertise in formal verification or modelling
Synthesis and Stochastic Assessment of Cost-Optimal Schedules
We present a novel approach to synthesize good schedules for a class
of scheduling problems that is slightly more general than the
scheduling problem FJm,a|gpr,r_j,d_j|early/tardy. The idea is to prime
the schedule synthesizer with stochastic information more meaningful
than performance factors with the objective to minimize the expected
cost caused by storage or delay. The priming information is
obtained by stochastic simulation of the system environment. The generated
schedules are assessed again by simulation. The approach is
demonstrated by means of a non-trivial scheduling problem from
lacquer production. The experimental results show that our approach
achieves in all considered scenarios better results than the
extended processing times approach
A modest approach to Markov automata
A duplicate of https://zenodo.org/record/5758839.
Reason: The submitter forgot to indicate the DOI before publishing, so it got another one assigned automatically, which is unchangeable
An Overview of Modest Models and Tools for Real Stochastic Timed Systems
We depend on the safe, reliable, and timely operation of cyber-physical
systems ranging from smart grids to avionics components. Many of them involve
time-dependent behaviours and are subject to randomness. Modelling languages
and verification tools thus need to support these quantitative aspects. In my
invited presentation at MARS 2022, I gave an introduction to quantitative
verification using the Modest modelling language and the Modest Toolset, and
highlighted three recent case studies with increasing demands on model
expressiveness and tool capabilities: A case of power supply noise in a
network-on-chip modelled as a Markov chain; a case of message routing in
satellite constellations that uses Markov decision processes with distributed
information; and a case of optimising an attack on Bitcoin via Markov automata
model checking. This paper summarises the presentation.Comment: In Proceedings MARS 2022, arXiv:2203.0929
Dependability checking with StoCharts: Is train radio reliable enough for trains?
Performance, dependability and quality of service (QoS) are prime aspects of the UML modelling domain. To capture these aspects effectively in the design phase, we have recently proposed STOCHARTS, a conservative extension of UML statechart diagrams. In this paper, we apply the STOCHART formalism to a safety critical design problem. We model a part of the European Train Control System specification, focusing on the risks of wireless communication failures in future high-speed cross-European trains. Stochastic model checking with the model checker PROVER enables us to derive constraints under which the central quality requirements are satisfied by the STOCHART model. The paper illustrates the flexibility and maturity of STOCHARTS to model real problems in safety critical system design
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