3 research outputs found
Combining Partial Specifications using Alternating Interface Automata
To model real-world software systems, modelling paradigms should support a
form of compositionality. In interface theory and model-based testing with
inputs and outputs, conjunctive operators have been introduced: the behaviour
allowed by composed specification s1 s2 is the behaviour allowed by
both partial models s1 and s2. The models at hand are non-deterministic
interface automata, but the interaction between non-determinism and conjunction
is not yet well understood. On the other hand, in the theory of alternating
automata, conjunction and non-determinism are core aspects. Alternating
automata have not been considered in the context of inputs and outputs, making
them less suitable for modelling software interfaces. In this paper, we combine
the two modelling paradigms to define alternating interface automata (AIA). We
equip these automata with an observational, trace-based semantics, and define
testers, to establish correctness of black-box interfaces with respect to an
AIA specification