A Modal Specification Theory for Components with Data

Abstract

Abstract. Modal specification is a well-known and widely used formalism used as an abstraction theory for transition systems. Modal specifications are transition systems equipped with two types of transitions: must-transitions that are mandatory to any implementation, and may-transitions that are optional. The duality of transitions allows to develop a unique approach for both logical and structural compositions, and eases the step-wise refinement process for building implementations. We propose Modal Specifications with Data (MSD), the first modal specification theory with explicit representation of data. Our new theory includes all the essential ingredients of a specification theory. As MSD are potentially infinite-state systems, we propose symbolic representations based on effective predicates. Our theory serves as a new abstraction-based formalism for transition systems with data.

Quantitative Modal Transition Systems

“…There are many other extensions of modal transition systems, which include those that encompass unbounded data or costs and parameters [8,12,13], and those that offer a more elaborated treatment of modalities [51,11].…”

Quotient of Acceptance Specifications Under Reachability Constraints

“…Several recent specification theories are based on modal specifications [16,14,9] including in timed [7,11] or quantitative [1] contexts and with data [2]. In this paper, we introduce marked acceptance specifications (MAS): they are based on an extension of modal specifications, called acceptance specifications, which we enrich with marked states to model reachability objectives.…”