Predicate Abstraction with Under-Approximation Refinement

Investor logo

Warning

This publication doesn't include Faculty of Sports Studies. It includes Faculty of Informatics. Official publication website can be found on muni.cz.
Authors

PELÁNEK Radek PASAREANU Corina VISSER Willem

Year of publication 2007
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Logical Methods in Computer Science
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Informatics

Citation
Web LMCS journal web-page.
Field Informatics
Keywords model checking; predicate abstraction; under-approximation
Description We propose an abstraction-based model checking method which relies on refinement of an under-approximation of the feasible behaviors of the system under analysis. The method preserves errors to safety properties, since all analyzed behaviors are feasible by definition. The method does not require an abstract transition relation to be generated, but instead executes the concrete transitions while storing abstract versions of the concrete states, as specified by a set of abstraction predicates. For each explored transition the method checks, with the help of a theorem prover, whether there is any loss of precision introduced by abstraction. The results of these checks are used to decide termination or to refine the abstraction by generating new abstraction predicates. If the (possibly infinite) concrete system under analysis has a finite bisimulation quotient, then the method is guaranteed to eventually explore an equivalent finite bisimilar structure. We illustrate the application of the approach for checking concurrent programs.
Related projects:

You are running an old browser version. We recommend updating your browser to its latest version.

More info