Distributed real-time system specification and verification in APTL

In this article, we propose a language, Asynchronous Propositional Temporal Logic (APTL), for the specification and verification of distributed hard real-time sytems. APTL extends the logic TPTL by dealing explicitly with multiple local clocks. We propose a distributed-system model which permits definition of inequalities asserting the temporal precedence of local clock readings. We show the expressiveness of APTL through two nontrivial examples. Our logic can be used to specify and reason about such important properties as bounded clock rate drifting. We then give a 220(n) tableau-based decision procedure for determining APTL satisfiability, where n is the size (number of bits) of the input formula.

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