Tools for Protocols Driven by Formal Specifications

Formal methods are being used increasingly for computer-communication protocols. The use of a formal description promotes conciseness and avoids dangerous ambiguity. Once a formal description is available, particularly in executable form, partly automated techniques can be used for: 1) examining the protocol specification for certain kinds of errors; 2) estimating its performance; 3) implementing the protocol as part of a product; 4) testing the implementation for architectural conformance; and 5) designing a conversion mechanism to be the bridge between different protocol systems. While there are alternative formal description approaches, this paper concentrates on the formal approach most used, that based on a finite-state-machine definition.

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