Efficient verification using generalized partial order analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a new formal method for the efficient verification of concurrent systems that are modeled using a safe Petri net representation. Our method generalizes upon partial-order methods to explore concurrently enabled conflicting paths simultaneously. We show that our method can achieve an exponential reduction in algorithmic complexity without resorting to an implicit enumeration approach.

Derivation of formal representations from process-based specification and implementation models

“…The analysis technique itself, called generalized partialorder analysis [18], tackles the two primary sources of combinatorial explosion that may occur in conventional reachability analysis. The first source is due to concurrently enabled actions for which standard analysis requires enumerating all possible orderings.…”

“…We have chosen the Petri net formalism, because it is well suited to model concurrency, choice, and causality, and because there is a wealth of formal verification techniques [15,18] that can exploit the inherent partial order properties explicitly captured in the model. However, a major problem when using Petri nets as a model for verification, is the lack of a formal mapping between constructs in the (system) specification language itself and Petri net operations.…”