Algebraic Validation Methods-A Comparison of Three Techniques

Protocol verification methods are commonly subdivided into two main groups. A distinction is then made between state-transition models and program-proving theories, with in between a small group of hybrid techniques [e.g. 3,7]. Our aim in this paper is to show that there is yet a third group of verification techniques that is slowly evolving into a main new discipline in its own right. This third group consists of the methods based on special validation algebras for communicating systems. Here we will briefly review three examples of techniques that belong to this emerging class. Though we restrict the discussion to just these three techniques, there are also other validation methods [12,13,16], and indeed some specification methods [1,2,15] that share important concepts with them.