Assume-Guarantee Model Checking of Software: A Comparative Case Study

A variety of assume-guarantee model checking approaches have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we describe several possible implementations of those approaches for checking properties of software components (units) using SPIN and SMV model checkers. Model checking software units requires, in general, the definition of an environment which establishes the run-time context in which the unit executes. We describe how implementations of such environments can be synthesized from specifications of assumed environment behavior written in LTL. Those environments can then be used to check properties that the software unit must guarantee which can be written in LTL or ACTL. We report on several experiments that provide evidence about the relative performance of the different assume-guarantee approaches.