136 research outputs found
O-Minimal Hybrid Reachability Games
In this paper, we consider reachability games over general hybrid systems,
and distinguish between two possible observation frameworks for those games:
either the precise dynamics of the system is seen by the players (this is the
perfect observation framework), or only the starting point and the delays are
known by the players (this is the partial observation framework). In the first
more classical framework, we show that time-abstract bisimulation is not
adequate for solving this problem, although it is sufficient in the case of
timed automata . That is why we consider an other equivalence, namely the
suffix equivalence based on the encoding of trajectories through words. We show
that this suffix equivalence is in general a correct abstraction for games. We
apply this result to o-minimal hybrid systems, and get decidability and
computability results in this framework. For the second framework which assumes
a partial observation of the dynamics of the system, we propose another
abstraction, called the superword encoding, which is suitable to solve the
games under that assumption. In that framework, we also provide decidability
and computability results
When are Stochastic Transition Systems Tameable?
A decade ago, Abdulla, Ben Henda and Mayr introduced the elegant concept of
decisiveness for denumerable Markov chains [1]. Roughly speaking, decisiveness
allows one to lift most good properties from finite Markov chains to
denumerable ones, and therefore to adapt existing verification algorithms to
infinite-state models. Decisive Markov chains however do not encompass
stochastic real-time systems, and general stochastic transition systems (STSs
for short) are needed. In this article, we provide a framework to perform both
the qualitative and the quantitative analysis of STSs. First, we define various
notions of decisiveness (inherited from [1]), notions of fairness and of
attractors for STSs, and make explicit the relationships between them. Then, we
define a notion of abstraction, together with natural concepts of soundness and
completeness, and we give general transfer properties, which will be central to
several verification algorithms on STSs. We further design a generic
construction which will be useful for the analysis of {\omega}-regular
properties, when a finite attractor exists, either in the system (if it is
denumerable), or in a sound denumerable abstraction of the system. We next
provide algorithms for qualitative model-checking, and generic approximation
procedures for quantitative model-checking. Finally, we instantiate our
framework with stochastic timed automata (STA), generalized semi-Markov
processes (GSMPs) and stochastic time Petri nets (STPNs), three models
combining dense-time and probabilities. This allows us to derive decidability
and approximability results for the verification of these models. Some of these
results were known from the literature, but our generic approach permits to
view them in a unified framework, and to obtain them with less effort. We also
derive interesting new approximability results for STA, GSMPs and STPNs.Comment: 77 page
Dynamics and Coalitions in Sequential Games
We consider N-player non-zero sum games played on finite trees (i.e.,
sequential games), in which the players have the right to repeatedly update
their respective strategies (for instance, to improve the outcome wrt to the
current strategy profile). This generates a dynamics in the game which may
eventually stabilise to a Nash Equilibrium (as with Kukushkin's lazy
improvement), and we argue that it is interesting to study the conditions that
guarantee such a dynamics to terminate.
We build on the works of Le Roux and Pauly who have studied extensively one
such dynamics, namely the Lazy Improvement Dynamics. We extend these works by
first defining a turn-based dynamics, proving that it terminates on subgame
perfect equilibria, and showing that several variants do not terminate. Second,
we define a variant of Kukushkin's lazy improvement where the players may now
form coalitions to change strategies. We show how properties of the players'
preferences on the outcomes affect the termination of this dynamics, and we
thereby characterise classes of games where it always terminates (in particular
two-player games).Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2017, arXiv:1709.0176
Simple Priced Timed Games Are Not That Simple
Priced timed games are two-player zero-sum games played on priced timed
automata (whose locations and transitions are labeled by weights modeling the
costs of spending time in a state and executing an action, respectively). The
goals of the players are to minimise and maximise the cost to reach a target
location, respectively. We consider priced timed games with one clock and
arbitrary (positive and negative) weights and show that, for an important
subclass of theirs (the so-called simple priced timed games), one can compute,
in exponential time, the optimal values that the players can achieve, with
their associated optimal strategies. As side results, we also show that
one-clock priced timed games are determined and that we can use our result on
simple priced timed games to solve the more general class of so-called
reset-acyclic priced timed games (with arbitrary weights and one-clock)
Efficient Energy Distribution in a Smart Grid using Multi-Player Games
Algorithms and models based on game theory have nowadays become prominent
techniques for the design of digital controllers for critical systems. Indeed,
such techniques enable automatic synthesis: given a model of the environment
and a property that the controller must enforce, those techniques automatically
produce a correct controller, when it exists. In the present paper, we consider
a class of concurrent, weighted, multi-player games that are well-suited to
model and study the interactions of several agents who are competing for some
measurable resources like energy. We prove that a subclass of those games
always admit a Nash equilibrium, i.e. a situation in which all players play in
such a way that they have no incentive to deviate. Moreover, the strategies
yielding those Nash equilibria have a special structure: when one of the agents
deviate from the equilibrium, all the others form a coalition that will enforce
a retaliation mechanism that punishes the deviant agent. We apply those results
to a real-life case study in which several smart houses that produce their own
energy with solar panels, and can share this energy among them in micro-grid,
must distribute the use of this energy along the day in order to avoid
consuming electricity that must be bought from the global grid. We demonstrate
that our theory allows one to synthesise an efficient controller for these
houses: using penalties to be paid in the utility bill as an incentive, we
force the houses to follow a pre-computed schedule that maximises the
proportion of the locally produced energy that is consumed.Comment: In Proceedings Cassting'16/SynCoP'16, arXiv:1608.0017
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