Model checking with bounded context switching

Authors:
Gerard J. Holzmann;Mihai Florian
Affiliations:
California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive M/S 301-230, 91109, Pasadena, CA, USA;California Institute of Technology, Computer Science Department, Pasadena, CA, USA
Venue:
Formal Aspects of Computing
Year:
2011

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Abstract

We discuss the implementation of a bounded context switching algorithm in the Spin model checker. The algorithm allows us to find counter-examples that are often simpler to understand, and that may be more likely to occur in practice. We discuss extensions of the algorithm that allow us to use this new algorithm in combination with most other search modes supported in Spin, including partial order reduction and bitstate hashing. We show that, other than often assumed, the enforcement of a bounded context switching discipline does not decrease but increases the complexity of the model checking procedure. We discuss the performance of the algorithm on a range of applications.