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Analysis of the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol’s connection management procedures using the sweep-line method

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer volume 10, pages 29–56 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

State space explosion is a key problem in the analysis of finite state systems. The sweep-line method is a state exploration method which uses a notion of progress to allow states to be deleted from memory when they are no longer required. This reduces the peak number of states that need to be stored, while still exploring the full state space. The technique shows promise but has never achieved reductions greater than about a factor of 10 in the number of states stored in memory for industrially relevant examples. This paper discusses sweep-line analysis of the connection management procedures of a new Internet standard, the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP). As the intuitive approaches to sweep-line analysis are not effective, we introduce new variables to track progress. This creates further state explosion. However, when used with the sweep-line, the peak number of states is reduced by over two orders of magnitude compared with the original. Importantly, this allows DCCP to be analysed for larger parameter values.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Systems Engineering Centre, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, SA, 5095, Australia

    Somsak Vanit-Anunchai, Jonathan Billington & Guy Edward Gallasch

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  1. Somsak Vanit-Anunchai
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  2. Jonathan Billington
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  3. Guy Edward Gallasch
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Correspondence to Somsak Vanit-Anunchai.

Additional information

Somsak Vanit-Anunchai was partially supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0559927) and Suranaree University of Technology.

Guy Edward Gallasch was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0559927).

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Vanit-Anunchai, S., Billington, J. & Gallasch, G.E. Analysis of the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol’s connection management procedures using the sweep-line method. Int J Softw Tools Technol Transf 10, 29–56 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10009-007-0050-1

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Keywords

  • State space methods
  • Sweep-line
  • DCCP
  • Coloured Petri Nets
  • State explosion