Proving Properties of Real-Time Distributed Systems: A Comparison of Three Approaches

Three formal methods for specifying properties of real-time systems are reviewed and used in a common example. Two of them offer a graphical representation and the third is an algebraic language. The example is that of an automatic railroad system with sensors to detect the train position and controls for the gate mechanism. Associated with each formalism is a proof methodology which is described and used to prove a safety property about the example. A comparison is made between the three formalisms according to various criteria including the expressiveness, readability, maintainability of the language, support for real-time concepts, method for expressing properties and proof mechanisms. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-92-20. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/363 Proving Properties of Real-Time Distributed Systems: A Comparison of Three Approaches MS-CIS-92-20 GRASP LAB 306 Patrice Brkmond-Grkgoire Susan Davidson Insup Lee University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science Computer and Information Science Department Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389

[1]  Insup Lee,et al.  CCSR: A Calculus for Communicating Shared Resources , 1990, CONCUR.

[2]  F. Jahanian,et al.  Semantics of Modechart in real time logic , 1988, [1988] Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Volume II: Software track.

[3]  C. A. R. Hoare,et al.  A Theory of Communicating Sequential Processes , 1984, JACM.

[4]  Robin Milner,et al.  Communication and concurrency , 1989, PHI Series in computer science.

[5]  Scott A. Smolka,et al.  Fundamental Results for the Verification of Observational Equivalence: A Survey , 1987, PSTV.

[6]  Matthew K. Franklin,et al.  State-based specification of complex real-time systems , 1988, Proceedings. Real-Time Systems Symposium.

[7]  Farnam Jahanian,et al.  A Method for Verifying Properties of Modechart Specifications , 1988, RTSS.

[8]  Matthew K. Franklin,et al.  A transformational method for verifying safety properties in real-time systems , 1989, [1989] Proceedings. Real-Time Systems Symposium.

[9]  I. Lee,et al.  A proof system for communicating shared resources , 1990, [1990] Proceedings 11th Real-Time Systems Symposium.

[10]  David Harel,et al.  On visual formalisms , 1988, CACM.

[11]  C. A. R. Hoare,et al.  Communicating Sequential Processes (Reprint) , 1983, Commun. ACM.

[12]  David Harel,et al.  Statecharts: A Visual Formalism for Complex Systems , 1987, Sci. Comput. Program..

[13]  Bowen Alpern,et al.  Defining Liveness , 1984, Inf. Process. Lett..

[14]  Wolfgang Reisig Petri Nets: An Introduction , 1985, EATCS Monographs on Theoretical Computer Science.