This paper introduces a novel technique to decide the satisfiability of
formulae written in the language of Linear Temporal Logic with Both future and
past operators and atomic formulae belonging to constraint system D (CLTLB(D)
for short). The technique is based on the concept of bounded satisfiability,
and hinges on an encoding of CLTLB(D) formulae into QF-EUD, the theory of
quantifier-free equality and uninterpreted functions combined with D. Similarly
to standard LTL, where bounded model-checking and SAT-solvers can be used as an
alternative to automata-theoretic approaches to model-checking, our approach
allows users to solve the satisfiability problem for CLTLB(D) formulae through
SMT-solving techniques, rather than by checking the emptiness of the language
of a suitable automaton A_{\phi}. The technique is effective, and it has been
implemented in our Zot formal verification tool.Comment: 39 page
