Survey of Communication Protocol Verification Techniques
ResearchPublished 1976
ResearchPublished 1976
Efforts at protocol verification have involved a number of formal models such as Petri nets, UCLA Graphs, state diagrams, and assertions. The powerful general theory developed for these abstract models has been brought to bear on various aspects of protocol operation and has succeeded in verifying some facets of protocol reliability. This paper surveys recent work in verifying the correct operation of communication protocols for computer networks. Unfortunately, both the complexity of more powerful protocols, and more hostile transmission media are beyond the capabilities of current formal models. Assertion techniques have been most successful to date in verifying data transfer aspects of protocols. Analysis of control functions is less advanced, and consequences of protocol failures have been almost totally ignored. Despite the limited success of some formal models, verification of many "real world" protocols must still rely on less rigorous techniques of broader applicability.
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