Model checking and abstraction (1994)

by E M Clarke, O Grumberg, D E Long
Venue:ACM Trans
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Compositional Model Checking

by E. M. Clarke, D. E. Long, K. L. Mcmillan , 1999
"... We describe a method for reducing the complexity of temporal logic model checking in systems composed of many parallel processes. The goal is to check properties of the components of a system and then deduce global properties from these local properties. The main difficulty with this type of approac ..."
Abstract - Cited by 3218 (68 self) - Add to MetaCart
We describe a method for reducing the complexity of temporal logic model checking in systems composed of many parallel processes. The goal is to check properties of the components of a system and then deduce global properties from these local properties. The main difficulty with this type of approach is that local properties are often not preserved at the global level. We present a general framework for using additional interface processes to model the environment for a component. These interface processes are typically much simpler than the full environment of the component. By composing a component with its interface processes and then checking properties of this composition, we can guarantee that these properties will be preserved at the global level. We give two example compositional systems based on the logic CTL*.

Symbolic Model Checking without BDDs

by Armin Biere , Alessandro Cimatti, Edmund Clarke, Yunshan Zhu , 1999
"... Symbolic Model Checking [3, 14] has proven to be a powerful technique for the verification of reactive systems. BDDs [2] have traditionally been used as a symbolic representation of the system. In this paper we show how boolean decision procedures, like Stalmarck's Method [16] or the Davis ..."
Abstract - Cited by 910 (74 self) - Add to MetaCart
Symbolic Model Checking [3, 14] has proven to be a powerful technique for the verification of reactive systems. BDDs [2] have traditionally been used as a symbolic representation of the system. In this paper we show how boolean decision procedures, like Stalmarck's Method [16] or the Davis & Putnam Procedure [7], can replace BDDs. This new technique avoids the space blow up of BDDs, generates counterexamples much faster, and sometimes speeds up the verification. In addition, it produces counterexamples of minimal length. We introduce a bounded model checking procedure for LTL which reduces model checking to propositional satisfiability. We show that bounded LTL model checking can be done without a tableau construction. We have implemented a model checker BMC, based on bounded model checking, and preliminary results are presented.
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Counterexample-guided Abstraction Refinement

by Edmund Clarke, Orna Grumberg, Somesh Jha, Yuan Lu, Helmut Veith , 2000
"... We present an automatic iterative abstraction-refinement methodology in which the initial abstract model is generated by an automatic analysis of the control structures in the program to be verified. Abstract models may admit erroneous (or "spurious") counterexamples. We devise new symb ..."
Abstract - Cited by 848 (71 self) - Add to MetaCart
We present an automatic iterative abstraction-refinement methodology in which the initial abstract model is generated by an automatic analysis of the control structures in the program to be verified. Abstract models may admit erroneous (or "spurious") counterexamples. We devise new symbolic techniques which analyze such counterexamples and refine the abstract model correspondingly.
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Model Checking for Programming Languages using VeriSoft

by Patrice Godefroid - IN PROCEEDINGS OF THE 24TH ACM SYMPOSIUM ON PRINCIPLES OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES , 1997
"... Verification by state-space exploration, also often referred to as "model checking", is an effective method for analyzing the correctness of concurrent reactive systems (e.g., communication protocols). Unfortunately, existing model-checking techniques are restricted to the verification of ..."
Abstract - Cited by 442 (13 self) - Add to MetaCart
Verification by state-space exploration, also often referred to as "model checking", is an effective method for analyzing the correctness of concurrent reactive systems (e.g., communication protocols). Unfortunately, existing model-checking techniques are restricted to the verification of properties of models, i.e., abstractions, of concurrent systems. In this paper, we discuss how model checking can be extended to deal directly with "actual" descriptions of concurrent systems, e.g., implementations of communication protocols written in programming languages such as C or C++. We then introduce a new search technique that is suitable for exploring the state spaces of such systems. This algorithm has been implemented in VeriSoft, a tool for systematically exploring the state spaces of systems composed of several concurrent processes executing arbitrary C code. As an example of application, we describe how VeriSoft successfully discovered an error in a 2500-line C program controlling rob...

Formal Methods: State of the Art and Future Directions

by Edmund M. Clarke, Jeannette M. Wing - ACM Computing Surveys , 1996
"... ing with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, to redistribute to lists, or to use any component of this work in other works, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from Publications Dept, ACM Inc., 1515 Broadway, New York, N ..."
Abstract - Cited by 422 (6 self) - Add to MetaCart
ing with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, to redistribute to lists, or to use any component of this work in other works, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from Publications Dept, ACM Inc., 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 USA, fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or permissions@acm.org. 2 \Delta E.M. Clarke and J.M. Wing About Programs---Mechanical verification, Specification techniques; F.4.1 [Mathematical Logic and Formal Languages]: Mathematical Logic---Mechanical theorem proving General Terms: Software engineering, formal methods, hardware verification Additional Key Words and Phrases: Software specification, model checking, theorem proving 1. INTRODUCTION Hardware and software systems will inevitably grow in scale and functionality. Because of this increase in complexity, the likelihood of subtle errors is much greater. Moreover, some of these errors may cause catastrophic loss of money, time, or even huma...

Symbolic Model Checking Using SAT Procedures instead of BDDs

by A. Biere, A. Cimatti, E. M. Clarke, M. Fujita, Y. Zhu - DAC 99 , 1999
"... In this paper, we study the application of propositional decision procedures in hardware verification. In particular, we apply bounded model checking, as introduced in [1], to equivalence and invariant checking. We present several optimizations that reduce the size of generated propositional formula ..."
Abstract - Cited by 329 (27 self) - Add to MetaCart
In this paper, we study the application of propositional decision procedures in hardware verification. In particular, we apply bounded model checking, as introduced in [1], to equivalence and invariant checking. We present several optimizations that reduce the size of generated propositional formulas. In many instances, our SAT-based approach can significantly outperform BDD-based approaches. We observe that SAT-based techniques are particularly efficient in detecting errors in both combinational and sequential designs.
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Automatic Verification of Pipelined Microprocessor Control

by Jerry Burch, David Dill , 1994
"... We describe a technique for verifying the control logic of pipelined microprocessors. It handles more complicated designs, and requires less human intervention, than existing methods. The technique automaticMly compares a pipelined implementation to an architectural description. The CPU time nee ..."
Abstract - Cited by 284 (7 self) - Add to MetaCart
We describe a technique for verifying the control logic of pipelined microprocessors. It handles more complicated designs, and requires less human intervention, than existing methods. The technique automaticMly compares a pipelined implementation to an architectural description. The CPU time needed for verification is independent of the data path width, the register file size, and the number of ALU operations.
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Abstract interpretation of reactive systems: Abstractions preserving 8CTL , 9CTL and CTL

by Dennis Dams, Orna Grumberg, Rob Gerth - Proceedings of the IFIP WG2.1/WG2.2/WG2.3 Working Conference on Programming Concepts, Methods and Calculi (PROCOMET), IFIP Transactions , 1994
"... The advent of ever more complex reactive systems in increasingly critical areas calls for the development of automated verification techniques. Model checking is one such technique, which has proven quite successful. However, the state explosion problem remains the stumbling block in many situations ..."
Abstract - Cited by 276 (13 self) - Add to MetaCart
The advent of ever more complex reactive systems in increasingly critical areas calls for the development of automated verification techniques. Model checking is one such technique, which has proven quite successful. However, the state explosion problem remains the stumbling block in many situations. Recent experience indicates that solutions are to be found in the application of techniques for property preserving abstraction and successive approximation of models. Most such applications have so far been based on the property-preserving characteristics of simulation relations. A major drawback of all these results is that they do not offer a satisfactory formalization of the notions of precision and optimality of abstractions. Furthermore, the use of simulation relations poses difficulties when formalizing the preservation of both existential and universal properties over the same abstract domain. The theory of Abstract Interpretation offers a framework for the definition and justification of property preserving abstractions. Furthermore, it provides a method for the effective computation of abstract models directly from the text of a program, thereby avoiding the need for intermediate storage of a full-blown model. Finally, it formalizes the notion of optimality, while allowing

Verification by abstract interpretation

by Patrick Cousot - In Verification: Theory and Practice , 2003
"... Dedicated to Zohar Manna, for his 2 6 th birthday. Abstract. Abstract interpretation theory formalizes the idea of abstraction of mathematical structures, in particular those involved in the specification of properties and proof methods of computer systems. Verification by abstract interpretation is ..."
Abstract - Cited by 243 (18 self) - Add to MetaCart
Dedicated to Zohar Manna, for his 2 6 th birthday. Abstract. Abstract interpretation theory formalizes the idea of abstraction of mathematical structures, in particular those involved in the specification of properties and proof methods of computer systems. Verification by abstract interpretation is illustrated on the particular cases of predicate abstraction, which is revisited to handle infinitary abstractions, and on the new parametric predicate abstraction. 1

Modular verification of software components in C

by Sagar Chaki, Edmund Clarke, Alex Groce, et al. - IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING , 2003
"... We present a new methodology for automatic verification of C programs against finite state machine specifications. Our approach is compositional, naturally enabling us to decompose the verification of large software systems into subproblems of manageable complexity. The decomposition reflects the mo ..."
Abstract - Cited by 240 (23 self) - Add to MetaCart
We present a new methodology for automatic verification of C programs against finite state machine specifications. Our approach is compositional, naturally enabling us to decompose the verification of large software systems into subproblems of manageable complexity. The decomposition reflects the modularity in the software design. We use weak simulation as the notion of conformance between the program and its specification. Following the abstractverify-refine paradigm, our tool MAGIC first extracts a finite model from C source code using predicate abstraction and theorem proving. Subsequently, simulation is checked via a reduction to Boolean satisfiability. MAGIC is able to interface with several publicly available theorem provers and SAT solvers. We report experimental results with procedures from the Linux kernel and the OpenSSL toolkit.
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