A Formal and Run-Time Framework for the Adaptation of Local Behaviours to Match a Global Property

Abstract

We address the problem of automatically identifying what local properties the agents of a Cyber Physical System have to satisfy to guarantee a global required property φ. To enrich the picture, we consider properties where, besides qualitative requirements on the actions to be performed, we assume a weight associated with them: quantitative properties are specified through a weighted modal-logic. We propose both a formal machinery based on a Quantitative Partial Model Checking function on contexts, and a run-time machinery that algorithmically tries to check if the local behaviours proposed by the agents satisfy φ. The proposed approach can be seen as a run-time decomposition, privacysensitive in the sense agents do not have to disclose their full behaviour.

A Quantitative Partial Model-Checking Function and Its Optimisation

“…Partial model checking has been used in several different contexts, such as state-based models [2,3], synchronous state/event systems [11], and timed systems [13,25,26]. It has also been specialised to check security properties [30] and for adapting one process to another without disclosing its full behaviour [8,9].…”

“…A first application (to the adaptation of agents) of a similar QPMC function has been proposed in [8,9]. However such a function is defined without fix-points, heuristics, and complexity considerations: in this paper we focus on these aspects instead, also proposing a novel c-Eµ to represent properties.…”