Abstract. Event-B provides us with a powerful framework for correctby-construction system development. However, while developing dependable systems we should not only guarantee their functional correctness but also quantitatively assess their dependability attributes. In this paper we investigate how to conduct probabilistic assessment of reliability of control systems modeled in Event-B. We show how to transform an Event-B model into a Markov model amendable for probabilistic reliability analysis. Our approach enables integration of reasoning about correctness with quantitative analysis of reliability.
Dependability is a property of a computer system to deliver services that can be justifiably trusted. Formal modelling and verification techniques are widely used for development of dependable computer-based systems to gain confidence in the correctness of system design. Such techniques include Event-B-a state-based formalism that enables development of systems correct-by-construction. While Event-B offers a scalable approach to ensuring functional correctness of a system, it leaves aside modelling of non-functional critical properties, e.g., reliability and responsiveness, that are essential for ensuring dependability of critical systems. Both reliability, i.e., the probability of the system to function correctly over a given period of time, and responsiveness, i.e., the probability of the system to complete execution of a requested service within a given time bound, are defined as quantitative stochastic measures. In this paper, we propose an extension of the Event-B semantics to enable stochastic reasoning about dependability-related non-functional properties of cyclic systems. We define the requirements that a cyclic system should satisfy and introduce the notions of reliability and responsiveness refinement. Such an extension integrates reasoning about functional correctness and stochastic modelling of non-functional characteristics into the formal system development. It allows the designer to ensure that a developed system does not only correctly implement its functional requirements but also satisfies given non-functional quantitative constraints.
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