Summary of: On the Expressiveness of Modal Transition Systems with Variability Constraints

Abstract

Modal transition systems and featured transition systems are widely recognised as fundamental behavioural models for software product lines. Modal transition systems with variability constraints are equally expressive as featured transition systems. This is proved by providing transformation of the latter into the former, and a transformation of the former into the latter which are both sound and complete. First, our results contribute to the expressiveness hierarchy of such basic models studied in many papers. Second, it provides an automatic algorithm from FTS to MTS that preserves the original (compact) branching structure, thus paving the way for using the model checking of FTSs with the variability model checker VMC.