Accelerating counterexample detection in software model checking

Abstract

Model checking is an automatic approach in enhancing correctness of systems. However, when it is applied to discover flaws in software systems, most of the respective verification tools lack scalability due to the state-space explosion problem. Abstraction technique is useful in reducing the state space of systems. It maps a concrete set of states to a smaller set of states that is actually an approximation of the system with respect to the property of interest. Predicate abstraction [3] is one of the most often used methods for attaining a finite abstract model from a concrete program which is often even an infinite state system. With predicate abstraction, a finite set of predicates, which determines the precision of the abstraction, is selected to keep track of certain facts about the program variables. The model obtained via predicate abstraction is an over-approximation of the original program. Thus, spurious paths may exist when an insufficient set of predicates are considered.