5,750 research outputs found
Revisiting Underapproximate Reachability for Multipushdown Systems
Boolean programs with multiple recursive threads can be captured as pushdown
automata with multiple stacks. This model is Turing complete, and hence, one is
often interested in analyzing a restricted class that still captures useful
behaviors. In this paper, we propose a new class of bounded under
approximations for multi-pushdown systems, which subsumes most existing
classes. We develop an efficient algorithm for solving the under-approximate
reachability problem, which is based on efficient fix-point computations. We
implement it in our tool BHIM and illustrate its applicability by generating a
set of relevant benchmarks and examining its performance. As an additional
takeaway, BHIM solves the binary reachability problem in pushdown automata. To
show the versatility of our approach, we then extend our algorithm to the timed
setting and provide the first implementation that can handle timed
multi-pushdown automata with closed guards.Comment: 52 pages, Conference TACAS 202
Timed Soft Concurrent Constraint Programs: An Interleaved and a Parallel Approach
We propose a timed and soft extension of Concurrent Constraint Programming.
The time extension is based on the hypothesis of bounded asynchrony: the
computation takes a bounded period of time and is measured by a discrete global
clock. Action prefixing is then considered as the syntactic marker which
distinguishes a time instant from the next one. Supported by soft constraints
instead of crisp ones, tell and ask agents are now equipped with a preference
(or consistency) threshold which is used to determine their success or
suspension. In the paper we provide a language to describe the agents behavior,
together with its operational and denotational semantics, for which we also
prove the compositionality and correctness properties. After presenting a
semantics using maximal parallelism of actions, we also describe a version for
their interleaving on a single processor (with maximal parallelism for time
elapsing). Coordinating agents that need to take decisions both on preference
values and time events may benefit from this language. To appear in Theory and
Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP)
Analyzing Timed Systems Using Tree Automata
Timed systems, such as timed automata, are usually analyzed using their
operational semantics on timed words. The classical region abstraction for
timed automata reduces them to (untimed) finite state automata with the same
time-abstract properties, such as state reachability. We propose a new
technique to analyze such timed systems using finite tree automata instead of
finite word automata. The main idea is to consider timed behaviors as graphs
with matching edges capturing timing constraints. When a family of graphs has
bounded tree-width, they can be interpreted in trees and MSO-definable
properties of such graphs can be checked using tree automata. The technique is
quite general and applies to many timed systems. In this paper, as an example,
we develop the technique on timed pushdown systems, which have recently
received considerable attention. Further, we also demonstrate how we can use it
on timed automata and timed multi-stack pushdown systems (with boundedness
restrictions)
Timed Analysis of Security Protocols
We propose a method for engineering security protocols that are aware of
timing aspects. We study a simplified version of the well-known Needham
Schroeder protocol and the complete Yahalom protocol, where timing information
allows the study of different attack scenarios. We model check the protocols
using UPPAAL. Further, a taxonomy is obtained by studying and categorising
protocols from the well known Clark Jacob library and the Security Protocol
Open Repository (SPORE) library. Finally, we present some new challenges and
threats that arise when considering time in the analysis, by providing a novel
protocol that uses time challenges and exposing a timing attack over an
implementation of an existing security protocol
Analyzing Conflict Freedom For Multi-threaded Programs With Time Annotations
Avoiding access conflicts is a major challenge in the design of
multi-threaded programs. In the context of real-time systems, the absence of
conflicts can be guaranteed by ensuring that no two potentially conflicting
accesses are ever scheduled concurrently.In this paper, we analyze programs
that carry time annotations specifying the time for executing each statement.
We propose a technique for verifying that a multi-threaded program with time
annotations is free of access conflicts. In particular, we generate constraints
that reflect the possible schedules for executing the program and the required
properties. We then invoke an SMT solver in order to verify that no execution
gives rise to concurrent conflicting accesses. Otherwise, we obtain a trace
that exhibits the access conflict.Comment: http://journal.ub.tu-berlin.de/eceasst/article/view/97
Model interoperability via model driven development
It is widely recognised that software development is a complex process. Among the factors that contribute to its inherent complexity is the gap between the design and the formal analysis domains. Software design is often considered a human oriented task while the analysis phase draws on formal representation and mathematical foundations. An example of this dichotomy is the use of UML for the software design phase and Petri Nets for the analysis; a separation of concerns that leads to the creation of heterogeneous models. Although UML is widely accepted as a language that can be used to model the structural and behavioural aspects of a system, its lack of mathematical foundations is seen as a serious impediment to rigorous analysis. Petri Nets on the other hand have a strong mathematical basis that is well suited for formal analysis; they lack however the appeal and the easeof-use of UML. A pressing concern for software developers is how to bridge the gap between these domains and allow for model interoperability and the integration of different toolsets across them, and thus reduce the complexity of the software development process. The aim of this paper is to present a Model Driven Development (MDD) model transformation which supports a seamless transition between UML and Petri Nets. This is achieved by model interoperability between UML Sequenc
A model driven approach to analysis and synthesis of sequence diagrams
Software design is a vital phase in a software development life cycle as it creates a blueprint for the implementation of the software. It is crucial that software designs are error-free since any unresolved design-errors could lead to costly implementation errors. To minimize these errors, the software community adopted the concept of modelling from various other engineering disciplines. Modelling provides a platform to create and share abstract or conceptual representations of the software system – leading to various modelling languages, among them Unified Modelling Language (UML) and Petri Nets. While Petri Nets strong mathematical capability allows various formal analyses to be performed on the models, UMLs user-friendly nature presented a more appealing platform for system designers. Using Multi Paradigm Modelling, this thesis presents an approach where system designers may have the best of both worlds; SD2PN, a model transformation that maps UML Sequence Diagrams into Petri Nets allows system designers to perform modelling in UML while still using Petri Nets to perform the analysis. Multi Paradigm Modelling also provided a platform for a well-established theory in Petri Nets – synthesis to be adopted into Sequence Diagram as a method of putting-together different Sequence Diagrams based on a set of techniques and algorithms
Formal Modeling of Connectionism using Concurrency Theory, an Approach Based on Automata and Model Checking
This paper illustrates a framework for applying formal methods techniques, which are symbolic in nature, to specifying and verifying neural networks, which are sub-symbolic in nature. The paper describes a communicating automata [Bowman & Gomez, 2006] model of neural networks. We also implement the model using timed automata [Alur & Dill, 1994] and then undertake a verification of these models using the model checker Uppaal [Pettersson, 2000] in order to evaluate the performance of learning algorithms. This paper also presents discussion of a number of broad issues concerning cognitive neuroscience and the debate as to whether symbolic processing or connectionism is a suitable representation of cognitive systems. Additionally, the issue of integrating symbolic techniques, such as formal methods, with complex neural networks is discussed. We then argue that symbolic verifications may give theoretically well-founded ways to evaluate and justify neural learning systems in the field of both theoretical research and real world applications
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