We translate statecharts into PROMELA, the input language of the SPIN verification system, using extended hierarchical automata as an intermediate format We discuss two possible frameworks for this translation, leading to either sequential or parallel code. We show that in this context the sequential code can be verified more efficiently than the parallel code. We conclude with the discussion of an application of the resulting translator to a well-known case study, which demonstrates the feasibility of linear temporal logic model checking of statecharts.
We formalize the rigorous but informal description of the semantics of statecharts given by Harel and Naamad in [3] which corresponds to the semantics underlying the commercial tool STATEMATE. We closely follow [3] to increase confidence that our semantics actually corresponds to their informal description. In [3] the semantics is given by a detailed description of the so-called basic step algorithm. Based on a formalization of this basic step algorithm we associate to each statechart a transition system which defines its computations. This is the first step towards linking the language of statecharts as supported by STATEMATE with other automatic verification tools. Our formalization uses Z notation rather than "standard mathematics". This allows to structure the definition of the formal semantics and to use tools like type-checkers.
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