System Validation (3): Requirements by modal formulas

Overview

System Validation is the field that studies the fundamentals of system communication and information processing. It allows automated analysis based on behavioural models of a system to see if a system works correctly. We want to guarantee that the systems does exactly what it is supposed to do. The techniques put forward in system validation allow to prove the absence of errors. It allows to design embedded system behaviour that is structurally sound and as a side effect forces you to make the behaviour simple and insightful. This means that the systems are not only behaving correctly, but are also much easier to maintain and adapt. ’Requirements by modal formulas' is the third course that shows you how to specify requirements for the automata in order to establish the correct relation between the requirements and the behaviour of the system. Reading material. J.F. Groote and M.R. Mousavi. Modeling and analysis of communicating systems. The MIT Press, 2014.

Syllabus

Basic modal formulas

In this module you learn how to specify requirements on behaviour. First Hennessy-Milner logic is explained, which is subsequently extended with fixed-points. Using this logic you will be able to formally characterise virtually any behavioral property on the behavior of software. This varies from simple properties such as a system is free from deadlocks, to complex properties such as "in a warehouse the controllers will instruct all the robots such that my ordered item will appear for certain within finite time at the output".

Advanced modal formulas

This module elaborates on modal formulas. It shows how to use data in the formulas which makes modelling of complex properties much easier. Furthermore, it shows how fairness properties can be modelled in the framework using nested fixed point operators. The last lectures introduce parameterised boolean equation systems and boolean equation systems as important technology to establish that a modal formula is valid for a particular specified behaviour.