Approximate Invariant Property Checking Using Term-Height Reduction for a Subset of First-Order Logic

Abstract

In order to verify larger and more complicated systems with model checking, it is necessary to apply some abstraction techniques. Using a subset of first-order logic, called EUF, is one of them. The EUF model checking problem is, however, generally undecidable. In this paper, we introduce a technique called term-height reduction, to guarantee the termination of state enumeration in EUF model checking. This technique generates an over-approximate set of states including all the reachable states. By checking a designated invariant property, we can guarantee whether the invariant property always holds for the design, when verification succeeds. We apply our algorithm to a simple C program and a DSP design and show the experimental results.