On the Semantics of Message Sequence Charts

Stefan Leue Institute for Informatics University of Berne Uinggassstrasse 51 CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland leue@iam.unibe.ch We give an informal exposition of a finite-state semantics for Message Sequence Chart (MSC) specifications. We interpret each MSC specification as a transit ion system of global states, from which we can define a Biichi automaton by considering safety and liveness properties of the system. We show how the set of global states and transitions may be interpreted as a model for temporal logic, and thus how temporal logic formulas may be used to enhance MSC specifications.

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