Behavioural and abstractor specifications

AbstractIn the literature, one can distinguish two main approaches to the definition of observational semantics of algebraic specifications. On one hand, observational semantics is defined using a notion of observational satisfaction for the axioms of the specifications and, on the other hand, one can define observational semantics by abstraction with respect to an observational equivalence relation between algebras. In this paper, we present an analysis and a comparative study of the different approaches in a more general framework which subsumes the observational case. The distinction between the different observational concepts is reflected by our notions of behavioural specification and abstractor specification. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the semantical equivalence of both kinds of specifications and we show that behavioural specifications can be characterized by an abstractor construction and, vice versa, abstractor specifications can be characterized in terms of behavioural specifications. Hence, there exists a duality between both concepts which allows to express each one by the other. We also study the relationships to fully abstract algebras which can be used for a further characterization of behavioural semantics. Finally, we provide proof-theoretic results which show that behavioural theories of specifications can be reduced to standard theories of some classes of algebras

Compatibility properties of synchronously and asynchronously communicating components

We study interacting components and their compatibility with respect to synchronous and asynchronous composition. The behavior of components is formalized by I/O-transition systems. Synchronous composition is based on simultaneous execution of shared output and input actions of two components while asynchronous composition uses unbounded FIFO-buffers for message transfer. In both contexts we study compatibility notions based on the idea that any output issued by one component should be accepted as an input by the other. We distinguish between strong and weak versions of compatibility, the latter allowing the execution of internal actions before a message is accepted. We consider open systems and study conditions under which (strong/weak) synchronous compatibility is sufficient and necessary to get (strong/weak) asynchronous compatibility. We show that these conditions characterize half-duplex systems. Then we focus on the verification of weak asynchronous compatibility for possibly non half-duplex systems and provide a decidable criterion that ensures weak asynchronous compatibility. We investigate conditions under which this criterion is complete, i.e. if it is not satisfied then the asynchronous system is not weakly asynchronously compatible. Finally, we discuss deadlock-freeness and investigate relationships between deadlock-freeness in the synchronous and in the asynchronous case

Bisimilarity and refinement for hybrid(ised) logics

The complexity of modern software systems entails the need for reconfiguration mechanisms governing the dynamic evolution of their execution configurations in response to both external stimulus or internal performance measures. Formally, such systems may be represented by transition systems whose nodes correspond to the different configurations they may assume. Therefore, each node is endowed with, for example, an algebra, or a first-order structure, to precisely characterise the semantics of the services provided in the corresponding configuration. Hybrid logics, which add to the modal description of transition structures the ability to refer to specific states, offer a generic framework to approach the specification and design of this sort of systems. Therefore, the quest for suitable notions of equivalence and refinement between models of hybrid logic specifications becomes fundamental to any design discipline adopting this perspective. This paper contributes to this effort from a distinctive point of view: instead of focussing on a specific hybrid logic, the paper introduces notions of bisimilarity and refinement for hybridised logics, i.e. standard specification logics (e.g. propositional, equational, fuzzy, etc) to which modal and hybrid features were added in a systematic way.FC

Regular Algebras A Framework for Observational Specifications with Recursive Definitions

We present a possible framework for specifications of data types with infinitary data, which can be defined by recursive equations. The basic tool is that, as usual, a recursive definition determines an element given as the least fixed point of the corresponding recursor, constructed naturally as the least upper bound of the usual chain of approximations. Somewhat unusually, we limit the prerequisite assumptions about the underlying ordering to the necessary minimum, arriving at the notion of a regular algebra as introduced by Tiuryn (1978, 79). It follows then that the framework of regular algebras can be naturally equipped with the notions permitting behavioural interpretation of specifications. 1 Introduction Behavioural semantics for specification plays a crucial role in the formalisation of the development process, where a specification need not be implemented exactly but so that the required system behaviour is achieved --- the idea goes back to [GGM76], [Hoa72]; see e.g. [ST95]..

Behavioural Theories and The Proof of Behavioural Properties

Behavioural theories are a generalization of first-order theories where the equality predicate symbol is interpreted by a behavioural equality of objects (and not by their identity). In this paper we first consider arbitrary behavioural equalities determined by some (partial) congruence relation and we show how to reduce the behavioural theory of any class of \Sigma -algebras to (a subset of) the standard theory of some corresponding class of algebras. This reduction is the basis of a method for proving behavioural theorems whenever an axiomatization of the behavioural equality is provided. Then we focus on the important special case of (partial) observational equalities where two elements are observationally equal if they cannot be distinguished by observable computations over some set of input values. We provide general conditions under which an obvious infinite axiomatization of the observational equality can be replaced by a finitary one and we provide methodological guidelines for..

Proving Behavioural Theorems with Standard First-Order Logic

. Behavioural logic is a generalization of first-order logic where the equality predicate is interpreted by a behavioural equality of objects (and not by their identity). We establish simple and general sufficient conditions under which the behavioural validity of some first-order formula with respect to a given first-order specification is equivalent to the standard validity of the same formula in a suitably enriched specification. As a consequence any proof system for first-order logic can be used to prove the behavioural validity of first-order formulas. 1 Introduction Observability plays a prominent role in formal software development, since it provides a suitable basis for defining adequate correctness concepts. For instance, for proving the correctness of a program with respect to a given specification, many examples show that it is essential to abstract from internal implementation details and to rely only on the observable behaviour of the program. A similar situation is the n..