4,268 research outputs found
Low-Effort Specification Debugging and Analysis
Reactive synthesis deals with the automated construction of implementations
of reactive systems from their specifications. To make the approach feasible in
practice, systems engineers need effective and efficient means of debugging
these specifications.
In this paper, we provide techniques for report-based specification
debugging, wherein salient properties of a specification are analyzed, and the
result presented to the user in the form of a report. This provides a
low-effort way to debug specifications, complementing high-effort techniques
including the simulation of synthesized implementations.
We demonstrate the usefulness of our report-based specification debugging
toolkit by providing examples in the context of generalized reactivity(1)
synthesis.Comment: In Proceedings SYNT 2014, arXiv:1407.493
Liveness of Randomised Parameterised Systems under Arbitrary Schedulers (Technical Report)
We consider the problem of verifying liveness for systems with a finite, but
unbounded, number of processes, commonly known as parameterised systems.
Typical examples of such systems include distributed protocols (e.g. for the
dining philosopher problem). Unlike the case of verifying safety, proving
liveness is still considered extremely challenging, especially in the presence
of randomness in the system. In this paper we consider liveness under arbitrary
(including unfair) schedulers, which is often considered a desirable property
in the literature of self-stabilising systems. We introduce an automatic method
of proving liveness for randomised parameterised systems under arbitrary
schedulers. Viewing liveness as a two-player reachability game (between
Scheduler and Process), our method is a CEGAR approach that synthesises a
progress relation for Process that can be symbolically represented as a
finite-state automaton. The method is incremental and exploits both
Angluin-style L*-learning and SAT-solvers. Our experiments show that our
algorithm is able to prove liveness automatically for well-known randomised
distributed protocols, including Lehmann-Rabin Randomised Dining Philosopher
Protocol and randomised self-stabilising protocols (such as the Israeli-Jalfon
Protocol). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fully-automatic
method that can prove liveness for randomised protocols.Comment: Full version of CAV'16 pape
Validity-Guided Synthesis of Reactive Systems from Assume-Guarantee Contracts
Automated synthesis of reactive systems from specifications has been a topic
of research for decades. Recently, a variety of approaches have been proposed
to extend synthesis of reactive systems from proposi- tional specifications
towards specifications over rich theories. We propose a novel, completely
automated approach to program synthesis which reduces the problem to deciding
the validity of a set of forall-exists formulas. In spirit of IC3 / PDR, our
problem space is recursively refined by blocking out regions of unsafe states,
aiming to discover a fixpoint that describes safe reactions. If such a fixpoint
is found, we construct a witness that is directly translated into an
implementation. We implemented the algorithm on top of the JKind model checker,
and exercised it against contracts written using the Lustre specification
language. Experimental results show how the new algorithm outperforms JKinds
already existing synthesis procedure based on k-induction and addresses
soundness issues in the k-inductive approach with respect to unrealizable
results.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
On the Impact of Fair Best Response Dynamics
In this work we completely characterize how the frequency with which each
player participates in the game dynamics affects the possibility of reaching
efficient states, i.e., states with an approximation ratio within a constant
factor from the price of anarchy, within a polynomially bounded number of best
responses. We focus on the well known class of congestion games and we show
that, if each player is allowed to play at least once and at most times
any best responses, states with approximation ratio times the
price of anarchy are reached after best
responses, and that such a bound is essentially tight also after exponentially
many ones. One important consequence of our result is that the fairness among
players is a necessary and sufficient condition for guaranteeing a fast
convergence to efficient states. This answers the important question of the
maximum order of needed to fast obtain efficient states, left open by
[9,10] and [3], in which fast convergence for constant and very slow
convergence for have been shown, respectively. Finally, we show
that the structure of the game implicitly affects its performances. In
particular, we show that in the symmetric setting, in which all players share
the same set of strategies, the game always converges to an efficient state
after a polynomial number of best responses, regardless of the frequency each
player moves with
A multi-paradigm language for reactive synthesis
This paper proposes a language for describing reactive synthesis problems
that integrates imperative and declarative elements. The semantics is defined
in terms of two-player turn-based infinite games with full information.
Currently, synthesis tools accept linear temporal logic (LTL) as input, but
this description is less structured and does not facilitate the expression of
sequential constraints. This motivates the use of a structured programming
language to specify synthesis problems. Transition systems and guarded commands
serve as imperative constructs, expressed in a syntax based on that of the
modeling language Promela. The syntax allows defining which player controls
data and control flow, and separating a program into assumptions and
guarantees. These notions are necessary for input to game solvers. The
integration of imperative and declarative paradigms allows using the paradigm
that is most appropriate for expressing each requirement. The declarative part
is expressed in the LTL fragment of generalized reactivity(1), which admits
efficient synthesis algorithms, extended with past LTL. The implementation
translates Promela to input for the Slugs synthesizer and is written in Python.
The AMBA AHB bus case study is revisited and synthesized efficiently,
identifying the need to reorder binary decision diagrams during strategy
construction, in order to prevent the exponential blowup observed in previous
work.Comment: In Proceedings SYNT 2015, arXiv:1602.0078
An Axiomatic Approach to Liveness for Differential Equations
This paper presents an approach for deductive liveness verification for
ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with differential dynamic logic.
Numerous subtleties complicate the generalization of well-known discrete
liveness verification techniques, such as loop variants, to the continuous
setting. For example, ODE solutions may blow up in finite time or their
progress towards the goal may converge to zero. Our approach handles these
subtleties by successively refining ODE liveness properties using ODE
invariance properties which have a well-understood deductive proof theory. This
approach is widely applicable: we survey several liveness arguments in the
literature and derive them all as special instances of our axiomatic refinement
approach. We also correct several soundness errors in the surveyed arguments,
which further highlights the subtlety of ODE liveness reasoning and the utility
of our deductive approach. The library of common refinement steps identified
through our approach enables both the sound development and justification of
new ODE liveness proof rules from our axioms.Comment: FM 2019: 23rd International Symposium on Formal Methods, Porto,
Portugal, October 9-11, 201
Playing Through Life, Death, and Grief in Fortnite and Elden Ring
This paper analyzes the cultural processes of grief and death practiced in Fortnite and Elden Ring in relation to the military history of the countries in which these games were produced. This close reading utilizes a methodology of media archaeology, visual studies, and liveness theory to analyze the affordances and regional practices present in these games and argue their design and consumption is haunted by the military histories of the United States and Japan respectively. As a result, Fortnite and Elden Ring are demonstrated to function as local sites of grief and mourning in relation to the opposing relationships with the military present in each game\u27s country of origin
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