Regression Verification for Programmable Logic Controller Software

Beckert, Bernhard; Ulbrich, Mattias; Vogel‐Heuser, Birgit; Weigl, Alexander

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-25423-4_15

Cited by 29 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(33 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In this section, we show the applicability of relational test tables using scenarios of the Pick-and-Place Unit (PPU) community demonstrator [4,16]. The PPU is an automated production system built up by industrial hardware for researching the co-evolution of production systems.…”

Section: Application Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two important applications of proving relational program properties are regression verification, and assurance of secure information flow (non-interference). Regression verification is a generalization of the equivalence proof between two programs, where two program revisions -often the old and new version -are shown to be related under certain inputs [4]. With regression verification, we can detect the introduction of unwanted behavior during the software evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Relational Test Tables

Weigl

Ulbrich

Cha

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Formal Methods in Software Engineering

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A wide range of interesting program properties are relational, i.e., they described a relation between two program runs. Two prominent relational properties are the regression verification (proving conditional program equivalence), and non-interference (proving the absence of information flow). The verification of relational properties is hardly accessible to engineers due to the lack of appropriate specification languages for relational properties. In previous work, we introduced the concept of generalized test tables: a table-based specification language, which allows the tight temporal specification of functional (nonrelational) properties for reactive systems. We introduce relational test tables-an extension of generalized test tables for the specification of relational properties. Relational test tables support specification of-safety properties (a super set of relational properties) between ≥ 2 program runs. We show the applicability of relational test tables by specifying and verifying change scenarios and information flow of reactive systems. We provide an implementation of the verification pipeline for programs following the IEC 61131-3 coding standard under http://github.com/ VerifAPS/verifaps-lib. CCS CONCEPTS • Software and its engineering → Software verification; Model checking; • General and reference → Verification; • Security and privacy → Software security engineering.

show abstract

Section: Application Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relational Test Tables

Weigl

Ulbrich

Cha

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Formal Methods in Software Engineering

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A prominent target for verification of k-safety properties is program equivalence. Verification approaches for program equivalence exist, e.g., for C programs [10] or PLC software [4], and allow both verification and counterexample generation. Another example of relational properties are information flow properties which target the problem whether certain outputs can be influenced by certain inputs of the program.…”

Section: Supported Properties and Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Counterexamples for Relational Properties with DIbugger

Herda

Kirsten

Brunner

et al. 2019

Electron. Proc. Theor. Comput. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Software verification is a tedious process that involves the analysis of multiple failed verification attempts, and adjustments of the program or specification. This is especially the case for complex requirements, e.g., regarding security or fairness, when one needs to compare multiple related runs of the same software. Verification tools often provide counterexamples consisting of program inputs when a proof attempt fails, however it is often not clear why the reported counterexample leads to a violation of the checked property. In this paper, we enhance this aspect of the software verification process by providing DIbugger, a tool for analyzing counterexamples of relational properties, allowing the user to debug multiple related programs simultaneously.

show abstract

“…To verify that the function block conforms to the specification given by the generalized test table, we encoded both the software and the test table as state transition systems and submitted them to a state-of-the-art model checker. To encode the examined software block in model checker logic, we reuse toolchain we presented in [7]. Like the software, the generalized test table is converted into a (non-deterministic) state transition system.…”

Section: Application Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

Generalized test tables: A powerful and intuitive specification language for reactive systems

Weigl

Wiebe

Ulbrich

et al. 2017

2017 IEEE 15th International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With recent trends in manufacturing automation, such as Industry 4.0, control software in automated production systems becomes more and more complex and volatile, complicating and increasing importance of quality assurance. Test tables are a widely used and generally accepted means to intuitively specify test cases for automation software. However, each table only specifies a single software trace, whereas the actual software behavior may cover multiple similar traces not covered by the table. Within this work, we present a generalization concept for test tables allowing for bounded and unbounded repetition of steps, "don't-care" values, as well as calculations with earlier observed values. We provide a verification mechanism for checking conformance of an IEC 61131-3 PLC software with a generalized test table, making use of a state-of-the-art model checker. Our notation is inspired by widely-used paradigms found in spreadsheet applications. By an empirical study with mechanical engineering students, we show that the notation matches user expectations. A real-world example extracted from an industrial automation plant illustrates our approach.

show abstract

Regression Verification for Programmable Logic Controller Software

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Relational Test Tables

Relational Test Tables

Understanding Counterexamples for Relational Properties with DIbugger

Generalized test tables: A powerful and intuitive specification language for reactive systems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About