Verification of Timed Erlang Programs Using McErlang

Abstract

There is a large number of works that apply model checking to timed specifications, however, there are far fewer attempts at model checking concurrent programs for which correct timed behaviour is crucial. In this work we explore the formal verification of timed programs written in the Erlang concurrent programming language, in its full complexity, using the McErlang model checker. We have extended the McErlang model checker with a timed semantics, similar to the timed semantics Lamport has developed for TLA and TLC, but with a few notable differences. In the paper we present the resulting semantics, its implementation in McErlang, and evaluate it using a number of examples. Among the examples is a process supervision component for controlling the processes in an Erlang application, which provides fault-tolerance.

Actors Revisited for Time-Critical Systems

“…In [19] the authors extend an (untimed) dataflow model with formal contracts that allow guarantees, e.g., for scheduling. There are timed models of dataflow [18], and even some structured approaches to use timing semantics in dataflow to execute time-critical [4]. In this extension a new API is introduced to provide the definition and manipulation of timestamps.…”

Event-Based Analysis of Timed Rebeca Models using SQL

“…Authors transform Timed Rebeca model to Erlang code, then they use McErlang [14] to simulate it. Later, an extension of McErlang which supports discrete-time semantics is released [13], results in development of a new transforming toolset for Timed Rebeca models [20]. For the simulation based analysis purposes choosing the right time to stop the simulation and the number of simulation traces must be considered to achieve credible analysis.…”