Description and verification of protocol by temporal logic

Abstract

AbstractWhen a new communication protocol is formulated, some method for protocol description and verification must be employed to describe and verify that protocol. This paper proposes a protocol description method based on McDermott's temporal logic. The features/characteristics of this method include: (1) The ability to describe “event” and “changes of fact” as they occur; (2) Its temporal logic is suitable for description of continuous time element as well as timeout; and (3) Its temporal logic is effective in protocol verification. A canonical form for protocol description is introduced that enables the translation of any logical inference expression into the standard form. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by performing the description and verification of Stenning's protocol.