Model checking semi-continuous time models using BDDs

Abstract

The verification of timed systems is extremely important, but also extremely difficult. Several methods have been proposed to assist in this task, including extensions to symbolic model checking. One possible use of model checking to analyze timed systems is by modeling passage of time as the number of taken transitions and applying quantitative algorithms to determine the timing parameters of the system. The advantage of this method is its simplicity and efficiency. In this paper we extend this technique in two ways. First, we present new quantitative algorithms that are more efficient than their predecessors. The new algorithms determine the number of occurrences of events in all paths between a set of starting states and a set of final states. We then use these algorithms to introduce a new model of time, in which the passage of time is dissociated from the occurrence of events. With this new model it is possible to verify systems that were previously thought to require dense time models. We use the new method to verify two such examples previously analyzed by the HyTech tool: a steam boiler example and a fuel injection controller. ©1999 Published by Elesevier Science B. V.