Fair transition system specification: an integrated approach
Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the two approaches to the type of formalism used to express specifications: logic-based approach and model-based approach. Temporal logic and state machine, representatives of formalisms used in each approach, are compared. As a result of this comparison, we know that although temporal logics have many advantages, especially abstraction and flexibility of the specification process, they fail to directly characterize situations easily modeled by model-based formalisms, such as "local" properties of execution sequences. To copy with these drawbacks, we present a new kind of formalism: fair transition system specification (FTSS). This approach combines the best features of temporal logic and state machine methods and it is easy to understand and use. A nontrivial example is used to illustrate our approach and it shows that our FTSS approach is promising.
References
[1]
[1] M. Abadi and L. Lamport, An Old-Fashioned Recipe for Real Time. ACM Trans. on Prog. Lang. and Sys., 16(5): 1543-1572, 1994.
[2]
[2] B. Alpern and F.B. Schneider, Defining Liveness, Inf. Process. Lett., 21(4): 181-185, 1985.
[3]
[3] D. Harel, Statecharts: A Visual Formalism for Complex System, Sci. Comp. Prog., 8: 231-274, 1987.
[4]
[4] L. Lamport, Specifying Concurrent Program Modules, ACM Trans. on Prog. Lang. and Sys., 5: 190-222, 1983.
[5]
[5] L. Lamport, What Good is Temporal Logic?, Information Processing 83, R.E.A. Mason (eds.), North-Holland, 1983: 657-68.
[6]
[6] L. Lamport, The Temporal Logic of Actions, ACM Trans. on Prog. Lang. and Sys., 16(3):872-923, 1994.
[7]
[7] N. Lynch and M. Tuttle, An Introduction to Input/Output Automata, CWI-Quarterly, 2(3): 219-246, 1989.
[8]
[8] Z. Manna and A. Pnueli, Verification of Concurrent Programs: a Temporal Proof Systems, Foundations of Computer Science IV, Distributed System: Part 2, 163-255, 1983.
[9]
[9] Z. Manna and A. Pnueli, Adequate Proof Principles for Invariance and Liveness Properties of Concurrent Systems, Sci. Comput. Prog., 32: 257-289, 1984.
[10]
[10] Z. Manna and A. Pnueli, The Temporal Logic of Reactive and Concurrent System: Specification, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1991.
[11]
[11] Z. Manna and A. Pnueli, Completing the Temporal Picture, Theor. Comp. Sci., 83(1): 97-130, 1991.
[12]
[12] R. Milner, A Calculus of Communicating System, Lec. Notes in Comp. Sci., 94, Springer-Verlag, 1980.
[13]
[13] A. Pnueli, The Temporal Semantics of Concurrent Programs, Theor. Comp. Sci., 13: 1-20, 1981.
[14]
[14] A. Pnueli, Specification and Development of Reactive Systems, In: Information Processing 86, IFIP, North-Holland, 1986: 845-858.
[15]
[15] A. Pnueli, System Specification and Refinement in Temporal Logic, In: R. Shyamasundar (ed.), Soft. Tech. and Theor. Comp. Sci., Lect. Note. in Comp. Sci. Vol. 652, Springer-Verlag, 1992.
Index Terms
- Fair transition system specification: an integrated approach
Recommendations
Faithfully formalizing OSEK/VDX operating system specification
SoICT '12: Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Information and Communication TechnologyOSEK/VDX has proposed a standard for operating systems used in automotive systems. This standard is described in the form of informal specification. The informal specification is not suitable for applying formal methods to the whole of the software ...
Formal Specification of User Interfaces: A Comparison and Evaluation of Four Axiomatic Approaches
Annals of discrete mathematics, 24Few examples of formal specification of the semantics of user interfaces exist in the literature. This paper presents a comparison of four axiomatic approaches which we have applied to the specification of a commercial user interface-the line editor for ...
Comments
Information & Contributors
Information
Published In
March 1996
37 pages
ISSN:0362-1340
EISSN:1558-1160
DOI:10.1145/227717
- Editor:
- Richard L. Wexelblat
Copyright © 1996 Authors.
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY, United States
Publication History
Published: 01 March 1996
Published in SIGPLAN Volume 31, Issue 3
Check for updates
Qualifiers
- Article
Contributors
Other Metrics
Bibliometrics & Citations
Bibliometrics
Article Metrics
- 0Total Citations
- 230Total Downloads
- Downloads (Last 12 months)33
- Downloads (Last 6 weeks)6
Reflects downloads up to 21 Sep 2024
Other Metrics
Citations
View Options
Get Access
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Sign in