Applicability of the BLAST model checker: an industrial case study

Authors:
Emanuel Kolb;Ondřej Šerý;Roland Weiss
Affiliations:
Industrial Software Systems, ABB Corporate Research, ABB AG, Forschungszentrum Deutschland, Ladenburg, Germany;Charles University in Prague, Prague 1, Czech Republic;Industrial Software Systems, ABB Corporate Research, ABB AG, Forschungszentrum Deutschland, Ladenburg, Germany
Venue:
PSI'09 Proceedings of the 7th international Andrei Ershov Memorial conference on Perspectives of Systems Informatics
Year:
2009

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Abstract

Model checking of software has been a very active research topic recently. As a result, a number of software model checkers have been developed for analysis of software written in different programming languages, e.g., SLAM, BLAST, and Java PathFinder. Applicability of these tools in the general industrial development process, however, is yet to be shown. In this paper, we present results of an experiment, in which we applied BLAST, a state-of-the-art model checker for C programs, in industrial settings. An industrial strength C implementation of a protocol stack has been verified against a set of formalized properties. We have identified real bugs in the code and we have also reached the limits of the tool. This experience report provides valuable guidance for developers of code analysis tools as well as for general software developers, who need to decide whether this kind of technique is ready for application and suitable for their particular goals.