Using Model Checking to Solve Supervisor Synthesis Problems

The properties of dynamic interactions in mobile-interactive systems are still difficult to analyze because of the complexity of systems. Thus, we have proposed a new Petri net called the variable petri net (VPN) recently, which specializes in describing dynamic interactions in systems. To make better use of VPN, this article focuses on the model checking method of VPN. It introduces the algorithm to transform a VPN to a Kripke structure that can describe both the system running states and the system connection states in VPN, and the method to transform a property to a temporal logic formula based on VPN and its Kripke structure. The Kripke structure can be optimized by considering the specific property about the system connection states and then be used to perform the targeted verification to the property by using a model checker. A practical example is given to demonstrate the proposed methods.

: The question of whether branching-time temporal logic or linear-time temporal logic is best for reasoning about concurrent programs is one of the most controversial issues in logics of programs. Concurrent programs are usually modelled by labelled state-transition graphs in which some state is designated as the initial state. For historical reasons such graphs are called Kripke structures. In linear temporal logic operators are provided for describing events along a single time path (i.e., along a single path in a Kripke structure). In a branching-time logic the temporal operators quantify over the futures that are possible from a given state (i.e., over the possible paths that lead from a state). It is well known that the two types of temporal logic have different expressive powers. Linear temporal logic, for example, can express certain fairness properties that cannot be expressed in branching-time temporal logic. On the other hand, certain practical decision problems like model checking are easier for branching-time temporal logic than for linear temporal logic. This paper provides further insight on which type of logic is best. It is shown that if two finite Kripke structures can be distinguished by some formula that contains both branching-time and linear-time operators, then the structures can be distinguished by a formula that contains only branching time operators. Specifically, we show that if two finite Kripke structures can be distinguished by some formula of the logic CTL (i.e., if there is some CTL formula that is true in one but not in the other), then they can be distinguished by some formula of the logic CTL.

We consider a multi-adversary version of the supervisory control problem for discrete-event systems (DES), in which an adversary corrupts the observations available to the supervisor. The supervisor’s goal is to enforce a specific language in spite of the opponent’s actions and without knowing which adversary it is playing against. This problem is motivated by applications to computer security in which a cyber defense system must make decisions based on reports from sensors that may have been tampered with by an attacker. We start by showing that the problem has a solution if and only if the desired language is controllable (in the DES classical sense) and observable in a (novel) sense that takes the adversaries into account. For the particular case of attacks that insert symbols into or remove symbols from the sequence of sensor outputs, we show that testing the existence of a supervisor and building the supervisor can be done using tools developed for the classical DES supervisory control problem, by considering a family of automata with modified output maps, but without expanding the size of the state space and without incurring on exponential complexity on the number of attacks considered.

Consider games where players wish to minimize the cost to reach some state. A subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium can be regarded as a collection of optimal paths on such games. Similarly, the well-known state-labeling algorithm used in model checking can be viewed as computing optimal paths on a Kripke structure, where each path has a minimum number of transitions. We exploit these similarities in a common generalization of extensive games and Kripke structures that we name “graph games”. By extending the Bellman-Ford algorithm for computing shortest paths, we obtain a model-checking algorithm for graph games with respect to formulas in an appropriate logic. Hence, when given a certain formula, our model-checking algorithm computes the subgame-perfect Nash equilibrium (as opposed to simply determining whether or not a given collection of paths is a Nash equilibrium). Next, we develop a symbolic version of our model checker allowing us to handle larger graph games. We illustrate our formalism on the critical-path method as well as games with perfect information. Finally, we report on the execution time of benchmarks of an implementation of our algorithms

During the last decade, Model Checking has proven its efficacy and power in circuit design, network protocol analysis and bug hunting. Recent research on automatic verification has shown that no single model-checking technique has the edge over all others in all application areas. So, it is very difficult to determine which technique is the most suitable for a given model. It is thus sensible to apply different techniques to the same model. However, this is a very tedious and time-consuming task, for each algorithm uses its own description language. Applying Model Checking in software design and verification has been proved very difficult. Software architectures (SA) are engineering artifacts that provide high-level and abstract descriptions of complex software systems. In this paper a Direct Model Checking (DMC) method based on Kripke Structure and Matrix Algorithm is provided. Combined and integrated with domain specific software architecture description languages (ADLs), DMC can be used for computing consistency and other critical properties.

Based on the Kripke structure, linear temporal logic and generalized possibility measure, this article studies the model checking problems of generalized possibilistic fuzzy linear temporal logic (GPoFTL). The generalized possibilistic Kripke structure is introduced to describe the system model. The syntax of GPoFTL, which includes fuzzy temporal operators such as ``soon'', ``presently'', ``gradually'', ``within'', ``last'', ``nearly always'', ``almost alwayss'', ``in the long distant future'', ``in the middle of'', ``nearly until'' and ``almost until'', and its language semantics and path semantics under generalized possibility measure are given. Next, we explain the semantics of fuzzy temporal operators through some examples and prove that GPoFTL is an extension of generalized possibilistic linear temporal logic in fuzzy time temporal logic. Furthermore, the GPoFTL model checking algorithm is given by explicit calculation formulas one by one for any GPoFTL formula involving fuzzy temporal operators using fuzzy matrix operations. Last, the algorithm of necessary threshold model checking of GPoFTL is studied using automata theory and its time complexity is discussed.

Model checking for Halpern and Shoham's interval temporal logic HS has been recently investigated in a systematic way, and it is known to be decidable under three distinct semantics. Here, we focus on the trace-based semantics, where the infinite execution paths (traces) of the given (finite) Kripke structure are the main semantic entities. In this setting, each finite infix of a trace is interpreted as an interval, and a proposition holds over an interval if and only if it holds over each component state (homogeneity assumption). In this paper, we introduce a quantitative extension of HS over traces, called parametric HS (PHS). The novel logic allows to express parametric timing constraints on the duration (length) of the intervals. We show that checking the existence of a parameter valuation for which a Kripke structure satisfies a PHS formula (model checking), or a PHS formula admits a trace as a model under the homogeneity assumption (satisfiability) is decidable. Moreover, we identify a fragment of PHS which subsumes parametric LTL and for which model checking and satisfiability are shown to be EXPSPACE-complete.

Temporal logic query checking was first introduced by W. Chan in order to speed up design understanding by discovering properties not known a priori. A query is a temporal logic formula containing a special symbol ?/sub 1/, known as a placeholder. Given a Kripke structure and a propositional formula /spl phi/, we say that /spl phi/ satisfies the query if replacing the placeholder by /spl phi/ results in a temporal logic formula satisfied by the Kripke structure. A solution to a temporal logic query on a Kripke structure is the set of all propositional formulas that satisfy the query. Query checking helps discover temporal properties of a system and, as such, is a useful tool for model exploration. In this paper, we show that query checking is applicable to a variety of model exploration tasks, ranging from invariant computation to test case generation. We illustrate these using a Cruise Control System. Additionally, we show that query checking is an instance of a multi-valued model checking of Chechik et al. This approach enables us to build an implementation of a temporal logic query checker, TLQSolver, on top of our existing multi-valued model checker /sub /spl chi//Chek. It also allows us to decide a large class of queries and introduce witnesses for temporal logic queries-an essential notion for effective model exploration.

This brief concerns the formal verification of properties of statecharts, a hierarchical state machine formalism for designing control-system logic. Various semantics have been defined for statecharts in terms of the microsteps that determine the transitions between statechart configurations. We show how computation tree logic (CTL) specifications for a statechart can be verified using a finite-state model checker such as SMV. The inputs to the model checker are a model and an associated expansion of the CTL formula that reflect the semantics. A Kripke structure with marked states provides the formal relationship between the expanded model and the original statechart structure and CTL specification. The results apply to a general class of semantics and statecharts with bounded behaviors. The approach is illustrated with a small example

—Bounded model checking has proven to be an efficient method for finding bugs in system designs. In this paper, we present an incremental semantic translation for Bounded model checking and give an incremental algorithm. We implement this method in NuSMV model checker and report encouraging results. Keywords-bounded model checking; semantic encoding; incremental; NuSMV I. I NTRODUCTION Bounded Model Checking (BMC) [1] is an efficient method for finding bugs in system designs. The basic idea of BMC is to convert the model checking problem to a Boolean satisfiability problem, i.e., given a Kripke structure M representing the system, an LTL formula ' and a bound k, a propositional formula M;:' k is created and it is satisfiable if and only if M involves a counterexample of ', and the length of such counterexample is bounded by k. BMC has established itself as a complementary method to BDD [2] based approach. There are some advantages for BMC:  First, it leverages the impressive achievements in SAT solver technology and several industry applications have proven that BMC seems to be able to solve certain problems that are not feasible for BDDs [4].

Module Checking

In this paper, our purpose is to study the quaternary continuous classical boundary optimal control vector problem dominated by a quaternary linear parabolic boundary value problem. Under suitable assumptions and with a given quaternary continuous classical boundary control vector, the existence theorem for a unique quaternary state vector solution to the weak form is stated and demonstrated via the method of Galerkin. Furthermore, the continuity of the Lipschitz operator between the state vector solution to the weak form for the dominating equations and the corresponding are proved. The existence of a quaternary continuous classical boundary optimal control vector is stated and demonstrated under suitable Assumptions. The mathematical formulation for the quaternary adjoint boundary value problem associated with each considered boundary value problem is obtained and the Frѐchet derivative for the objective function is derived. Finally, the necessary conditions for the optimality theorem of the problem are stated and demonstrated.

We address the problem of learning temporal properties from the branching-time behavior of systems. Existing research in this field has mostly focused on learning linear temporal properties specified using popular logics, such as Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) and Signal Temporal Logic (STL). Branching-time logics such as Computation Tree Logic (CTL) and Alternating-time Temporal Logic (ATL), despite being extensively used in specifying and verifying distributed and multi-agent systems, have not received adequate attention. Thus, in this paper, we investigate the problem of learning CTL and ATL formulas from examples of system behavior. As input to the learning problems, we rely on the typical representations of branching behavior as Kripke structures and concurrent game structures, respectively. Given a sample of structures, we learn concise formulas by encoding the learning problem into a satisfiability problem, most notably by symbolically encoding both the search for prospective formulas and their fixed-point based model checking algorithms. We also study the decision problem of checking the existence of prospective ATL formulas for a given sample. We implement our algorithms in a Python prototype and have evaluated them to extract several common CTL and ATL formulas used in practical applications.

A model checker is an automatic tool that traverses a specific structure (normally a Kripke structure referred as the modelM) to check the satisfaction of some (temporal) logical propertyf. This is formally stated asM⊧f. For some formal notations, the modelMof a specificationS(written in a formal languageL) can be described as a labelled transition system (LTS). Specifically, it is not clear in general how usual tools such as SPIN, FDR, PAT, etc., create the LTS representation from a given process. Although one expects the coherence of the LTS generation with the semantics ofL, it is completely hidden inside the model checker itself. In this paper we show how to create a model checker forL, using a development approach based on its operational semantics. We use a systematic semantics embedding and the formal modeling using logic programming and analysis (FORMULA) framework to this end. We illustrate our strategy considering the formal language COMPASS modelling language (CML)—a new language that was based on CSP, VDM and the refinement calculus proposed for modelling and analysis of systems of systems. As FORMULA is based on satisfiability modulo theories solving, our model checker can handle communications and predicates involving data with infinite domains by building and manipulating a symbolic LTS. This goes beyond the capabilities of traditional CSP model checkers such as FDR and PAT. Moreover, we show how to reduce time and space complexities by simple semantic modifications in the embedding. This allows a more semantics-preserving tuning. Finally, we show a real implementation of our model checker in an integrated development platform for CML and its practical use on an industrial case study.

This paper studies a stochastic linear-quadratic (LQ) framework over a continuous-time stationary state with Markovian jumps in parameter values, allowing the weighting parameters to be limited. In order to fully consider the influence of the state factors in the classical stochastic LQ control problem, the control model is extended to a jump-diffusion model in this paper. By introducing a jump-diffusion stochastic Riccati equation and applying random variational method, the optimal feedback control strategy of the new model is obtained. As applications, the new stochastic LQ control model proves to be an effective framework to solve the optimal portfolio selection problem and the hedging strategy problem in finance in the light of the recent development on general stochastic LQ problems.