Conflict detection in composite web services based on model checking

Abstract

We propose an efficient method to detect conflicts, which may occur during the execution time of composite web services, based on model checking. The proposed method does not only check whether a composite service satisfies the correctness claims specified by a service developer, but it also detects any possible conflicts from the control and data flow of a composite service at the time of service development. The proposed method divides correctness claims into four types depending on their application time: pre/post-condition, policy, and assumption. Specifically, composite services and correctness claims are modelled by OWL-S and SWRL, respectively. The proposed method automatically converts the control and data flow of an OWLS composite service and the correctness claims into Promela code and LTL formulas, which are given as the input of a SPIN model checker. Experimental results under real-world scenarios show that the proposed method detects conflicts in composite web services effectively.