Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Verification of multiprocess probabilistic protocols

  • Published:
Distributed Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate the utility of temporal logic to the formal verification of probabilistic distributed programs. The approach taken is to represent the quantitative notion of probabilistic computations by the qualitative abstraction ofextreme fairness. The method is illustrated first on the dining philosophers problem [3] and then on a new probabilistic symmetric solution to then-processes mutual exclusion problem. Two related solutions are presented corresponding to different assumptions about the granularity of a compound test.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Burns JE, Fischer MJ, Jackson P, Lynch NA, Peterson GL (1978) Shared data requirements for imolementation of mutual exclusion using a test-and-set primitive. Proc Intr Conf Parallel Processing, pp 79–87

  2. Cohen, S, Lehmann D, Pnueli A (1984) Symmetric and economical solution to the mutual exclusion problem in distributed systems. Theor Comp Sci 34:215–226

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dijkstra EW (1972) Hierarchical ordering of sequential process. Operating system techniques. Academic Press

  4. Feller W (1967) An introduction to probability theory and its appliction 3rd ed, vol 1, ch. XIII, section 7. Wiley, pp 322–324

  5. Hart S, Sharir M, Pnueli A (1983) Termintion of probabilistic concurrent programs. TOPLAS 5:356–380

    Google Scholar 

  6. Itai A, Rodeh M (1981) The lord of the ring, or probabilistic methods for breaking symmetry in distributive networks. RJ 3110, IBM, San Jose

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lehmann D, Rabin MO (1981) On the advantages of free choice: A symmetric and fully distributed solution to the dining philosophers problem (extended abstract) Conf Record of the 8th Annual ACM Symp on Principles of Programming Languages, Williamsburg, VA, Jan 1981, pp 133–138

  8. Lehmann D, Shelah S (1982) Reasoning with time and chance. Inf Control 53: 165–198

    Google Scholar 

  9. Lichtenstein O, Pnueli A, Zuck L (1985) The glory of the past. Proceedings of the Workshop on Logics of Programs, Spriger-Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  10. Manna Z, Pnueli A (1981) Verification of concurrent programs: temporal proof principles. Proc of the Workshop on Logic of Programs. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp 200–252

    Google Scholar 

  11. Manna Z, Pnueli A (1982) Verification of concurrent programs: a temporal proof system. Proc 4th School on Advanced Programming, Amsterdam

  12. Manna Z, Pnueli A (1983) How to cook a temporal system for your pet language. Proc of the 10th Annual ACM Symp on Principles of Programming Languages

  13. Owicki S, Lamport L (1982) Proving liveness properties of concurrent programs. TOPLAS 4:455–495

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pnueli A (1983) On the extremely fair treatment of probabilistic algorithms. Proc of the 15th Annual Symp on Theory of Computing

  15. Rabin MO (1976) Probabilistic algorithms. Algorithms and complexity new directions and recent results. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  16. Rabin MO (1980) N-process synchronization by 4 logN-valued shared variables. Tech Report Forschungsinstitute für Mathematik, ETH, Zürich

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rabin MO (1982) The choice coordimation problem, Acta Inf 17:121–134

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sharir M, Hart S (1983) Probabilistic temporal logics for finite and bounded models. Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Amir Pnueli & Lenore Zuck

Authors
  1. Amir Pnueli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lenore Zuck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Amir Pnueli, graduated at the Technion, Haifa, Israel 1962. Received a Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel, 1967.

He is currently a Professor of Computer Science at the Weizmann Institute. His research interests include the Semantics, Verification, Specification and Development of Concurrent and Distributed Systems using Temporal Logic and other Formalisms.

Lenore Zuck was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, on September 26, 1958. She received her B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from the Technion, Haifa, Israel in 1979, and the M.Sc. degree in Computer Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, in 1983, where she is currently completing her Ph.D. studies. Her areas of interest include the Analysis and Verification of Distributed and Probabilistic Systems and Pre-Classic Music.

The work of this author was supported by the Eshkol Fund

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pnueli, A., Zuck, L. Verification of multiprocess probabilistic protocols. Distrib Comput 1, 53–72 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01843570

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01843570

Keywords

Search

Navigation