An Automated Approach for the Interpretation of Counter-Examples

Model checking is an automatic technique used for the verification of finite systems. A model checker explores the full state space of a given model and checks it against a set of requirements. If a state exists in which a requirement is not satisfied most tools will generate a counter-example. Coun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inElectronic notes in theoretical computer science Vol. 174; no. 4; pp. 19 - 35
Main Authors van den Berg, Lionel, Strooper, Paul, Johnston, Wendy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 30.05.2007
Subjects
animation
counter-example
interpretation
Model checking
railway signalling
verification
counter-example
Model checking
interpretation
railway signalling
verification
animation
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Summary:Model checking is an automatic technique used for the verification of finite systems. A model checker explores the full state space of a given model and checks it against a set of requirements. If a state exists in which a requirement is not satisfied most tools will generate a counter-example. Counter-examples are useful for debugging a model and determining if an error exists in the modelled system. However, they can be difficult for end users to understand and this may limit the take-up of model checking in industry. This paper describes a domain-specific approach to automatically interpreting counter-examples and presenting the results in an intuitive form to the end user. Our research extends previous work on model checking railway signalling control tables with signalling engineers from Queensland Rail.
ISSN:1571-0661
1571-0661
DOI:10.1016/j.entcs.2006.12.027