Modeling and verification of message sequence charts using process algebras and temporal logic model checking
Date
2003
Authors
Chiu, Wai Han
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Abstract
This thesis presents a technique for verifying assumptions about the ordering of events in a simple message sequence chart (MSC) model. In this model, MSC's come with an interpretation which corresponds to a visual or enforced order. The basic problem of verification for these simple MSC's is checking whether or not a user-inferred ordering is in fact consistent with the underlying visual or enforced order. The technique of this thesis uses the Calculus of Communicating Systems ( CCS) process algebra to model MSC's, and a temporal logic called GCTL* (Generalized Computation Tree Logic) to specify user-inferred orderings. We give a general method for translating visual order MSC's into CCS and we prove that this translation is correct. We also show how to translate MSC's with any enforced ordering into CCS and give a partial proof that this translation is correct. We show how to specify inferred orderings in temporal logic, and describe how we can now use a temporal logic model-checking tool such as the Concurrency Workbench to verify inferred orderings in MSC's. Finally we describe a tool that we have developed which translates visual and enforced-ordering MSC's into CCS in a format which is suitable for input to CWB. We give examples of how this tool can be used in combination with CWB to verify orderings in MSC's.