Timed systems behaviour and conformance testing — a mathematical framework

A formal framework for conformance testing is a prerequisite for the verification as well as for the correct generation of test cases. In this paper, we develop a formal view of systems, behaviour, and testing, that includes aspects of time. It deals on a semantic level with systems cooperating via timed input/output rendezvous and was developed with a view to the OSI architecture, service and conformance testing concepts. We outline a theoretical framework for testing, in which many important informal notions of conformance testing are reconstructed as formal notions with clear relationships among them. In the process, some of these notions are refined and new ones are added. The verdict concept is clarified by the introduction of the notions of evidence function, verdict strategies, and additional parameters.