Revisiting Synthesis for One-Counter Automata

We study the (parameter) synthesis problem for one-counter automata with parameters. One-counter automata are obtained by extending classical finite-state automata with a counter whose value can range over non-negative integers and be tested for zero. The updates and tests applicable to the counter can further be made parametric by introducing a set of integer-valued variables called parameters. The synthesis problem for such automata asks whether there exists a valuation of the parameters such that all infinite runs of the automaton satisfy some omega-regular property. Lechner showed that (the complement of) the problem can be encoded in a restricted one-alternation fragment of Presburger arithmetic with divisibility. In this work (i) we argue that said fragment, called AERPADPLUS, is unfortunately undecidable. Nevertheless, by a careful re-encoding of the problem into a decidable restriction of AERPADPLUS, (ii) we prove that the synthesis problem is decidable in general and in N2EXP for several fixed omega-regular properties. Finally, (iii) we give a polynomial-space algorithm for the special case of the problem where parameters can only be used in tests, and not updates, of the counter

Revisiting Reachability in Timed Automata

We revisit a fundamental result in real-time verification, namely that the binary reachability relation between configurations of a given timed automaton is definable in linear arithmetic over the integers and reals. In this paper we give a new and simpler proof of this result, building on the well-known reachability analysis of timed automata involving difference bound matrices. Using this new proof, we give an exponential-space procedure for model checking the reachability fragment of the logic parametric TCTL. Finally we show that the latter problem is NEXPTIME-hard

Model-checking Quantitative Alternating-time Temporal Logic on One-counter Game Models

We consider quantitative extensions of the alternating-time temporal logics ATL/ATLs called quantitative alternating-time temporal logics (QATL/QATLs) in which the value of a counter can be compared to constants using equality, inequality and modulo constraints. We interpret these logics in one-counter game models which are infinite duration games played on finite control graphs where each transition can increase or decrease the value of an unbounded counter. That is, the state-space of these games are, generally, infinite. We consider the model-checking problem of the logics QATL and QATLs on one-counter game models with VASS semantics for which we develop algorithms and provide matching lower bounds. Our algorithms are based on reductions of the model-checking problems to model-checking games. This approach makes it quite simple for us to deal with extensions of the logical languages as well as the infinite state spaces. The framework generalizes on one hand qualitative problems such as ATL/ATLs model-checking of finite-state systems, model-checking of the branching-time temporal logics CTL and CTLs on one-counter processes and the realizability problem of LTL specifications. On the other hand the model-checking problem for QATL/QATLs generalizes quantitative problems such as the fixed-initial credit problem for energy games (in the case of QATL) and energy parity games (in the case of QATLs). Our results are positive as we show that the generalizations are not too costly with respect to complexity. As a byproduct we obtain new results on the complexity of model-checking CTLs in one-counter processes and show that deciding the winner in one-counter games with LTL objectives is 2ExpSpace-complete.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure

The Complexity of Flat Freeze LTL

We consider the model-checking problem for freeze LTL on one-counter automata (OCAs). Freeze LTL extends LTL with the freeze quantifier, which allows one to store different counter values of a run in registers so that they can be compared with one another. As the model-checking problem is undecidable in general, we focus on the flat fragment of freeze LTL, in which the usage of the freeze quantifier is restricted. Recently, Lechner et al. showed that model checking for flat freeze LTL on OCAs with binary encoding of counter updates is decidable and in 2NEXPTIME. In this paper, we prove that the problem is, in fact, NEXPTIME-complete no matter whether counter updates are encoded in unary or binary. Like Lechner et al., we rely on a reduction to the reachability problem in OCAs with parameterized tests (OCAPs). The new aspect is that we simulate OCAPs by alternating two-way automata over words. This implies an exponential upper bound on the parameter values that we exploit towards an NP algorithm for reachability in OCAPs with unary updates. We obtain our main result as a corollary

Path Checking for MTL and TPTL over Data Words

Metric temporal logic (MTL) and timed propositional temporal logic (TPTL) are quantitative extensions of linear temporal logic, which are prominent and widely used in the verification of real-timed systems. It was recently shown that the path checking problem for MTL, when evaluated over finite timed words, is in the parallel complexity class NC. In this paper, we derive precise complexity results for the path-checking problem for MTL and TPTL when evaluated over infinite data words over the non-negative integers. Such words may be seen as the behaviours of one-counter machines. For this setting, we give a complete analysis of the complexity of the path-checking problem depending on the number of register variables and the encoding of constraint numbers (unary or binary). As the two main results, we prove that the path-checking problem for MTL is P-complete, whereas the path-checking problem for TPTL is PSPACE-complete. The results yield the precise complexity of model checking deterministic one-counter machines against formulae of MTL and TPTL

The Complexity of Flat Freeze LTL

We consider the model-checking problem for freeze LTL on one-counter automata (OCAs). Freeze LTL extends LTL with the freeze quantifier, which allows one to store different counter values of a run in registers so that they can be compared with one another. As the model-checking problem is undecidable in general, we focus on the flat fragment of freeze LTL, in which the usage of the freeze quantifier is restricted. Recently, Lechner et al. showed that model checking for flat freeze LTL on OCAs with binary encoding of counter updates is decidable and in 2NEXPTIME. In this paper, we prove that the problem is, in fact, NEXPTIME-complete no matter whether counter updates are encoded in unary or binary. Like Lechner et al., we rely on a reduction to the reachability problem in OCAs with parameterized tests (OCAPs). The new aspect is that we simulate OCAPs by alternating two-way automata over words. This implies an exponential upper bound on the parameter values that we exploit towards an NP algorithm for reachability in OCAPs with unary updates. We obtain our main result as a corollary

Equivalence of Deterministic One-Counter Automata is NL-complete

We prove that language equivalence of deterministic one-counter automata is NL-complete. This improves the superpolynomial time complexity upper bound shown by Valiant and Paterson in 1975. Our main contribution is to prove that two deterministic one-counter automata are inequivalent if and only if they can be distinguished by a word of length polynomial in the size of the two input automata

Revisiting Parameter Synthesis for One-Counter Automata

We study the synthesis problem for one-counter automata with parameters. One-counter automata are obtained by extending classical finite-state automata with a counter whose value can range over non-negative integers and be tested for zero. The updates and tests applicable to the counter can further be made parametric by introducing a set of integer-valued variables called parameters. The synthesis problem for such automata asks whether there exists a valuation of the parameters such that all infinite runs of the automaton satisfy some ?-regular property. Lechner showed that (the complement of) the problem can be encoded in a restricted one-alternation fragment of Presburger arithmetic with divisibility. In this work (i) we argue that said fragment, called ??_RPAD^+, is unfortunately undecidable. Nevertheless, by a careful re-encoding of the problem into a decidable restriction of ??_RPAD^+, (ii) we prove that the synthesis problem is decidable in general and in 2NEXP for several fixed ?-regular properties. Finally, (iii) we give polynomial-space algorithms for the special cases of the problem where parameters can only be used in counter tests

Counterexample Generation in Probabilistic Model Checking

Providing evidence for the refutation of a property is an essential, if not the most important, feature of model checking. This paper considers algorithms for counterexample generation for probabilistic CTL formulae in discrete-time Markov chains. Finding the strongest evidence (i.e., the most probable path) violating a (bounded) until-formula is shown to be reducible to a single-source (hop-constrained) shortest path problem. Counterexamples of smallest size that deviate most from the required probability bound can be obtained by applying (small amendments to) k-shortest (hop-constrained) paths algorithms. These results can be extended to Markov chains with rewards, to LTL model checking, and are useful for Markov decision processes. Experimental results show that typically the size of a counterexample is excessive. To obtain much more compact representations, we present a simple algorithm to generate (minimal) regular expressions that can act as counterexamples. The feasibility of our approach is illustrated by means of two communication protocols: leader election in an anonymous ring network and the Crowds protocol

Countdown games, and simulation on (succinct) one-counter nets

We answer an open complexity question by Hofman, Lasota, Mayr, Totzke (LMCS 2016) [HLMT16] for simulation preorder of succinct one-counter nets (i.e., one-counter automata with no zero tests where counter increments and decrements are integers written in binary), by showing that all relations between bisimulation equivalence and simulation preorder are EXPSPACE-hard for these nets. We describe a reduction from reachability games whose EXPSPACE-completeness in the case of succinct one-counter nets was shown by Hunter [RP 2015], by using other results. We also provide a direct self-contained EXPSPACE-completeness proof for a special case of such reachability games, namely for a modification of countdown games that were shown EXPTIME-complete by Jurdzinski, Sproston, Laroussinie [LMCS 2008]; in our modification the initial counter value is not given but is freely chosen by the first player. We also present a new simplified proof of the belt theorem that gives a simple graphic presentation of simulation preorder on one-counter nets and leads to a polynomial-space algorithm; it is an alternative to the proof from [HLMT16].Comment: A part of this paper elaborates arxiv-paper 1801.01073 and the related paper presented at Reachability Problems 201