On Specifications and Proofs of Timed Circuits

M Függer, C Lenzen, U Schmid - … of Systems Design: Essays Dedicated to …, 2022 - Springer
Principles of Systems Design: Essays Dedicated to Thomas A. Henzinger on the …, 2022Springer
Given a discrete-state continuous-time reactive system, like a digital circuit, the classical
approach is to first model it as a state transition system and then prove its properties. Our
contribution advocates a different approach: to directly operate on the input-output behavior
of such systems, without identifying states and their transitions in the first place. We discuss
the benefits of this approach at hand of some examples, which demonstrate that it nicely
integrates with concepts of self-stabilization and fault-tolerance. We also elaborate on some …
Abstract
Given a discrete-state continuous-time reactive system, like a digital circuit, the classical approach is to first model it as a state transition system and then prove its properties. Our contribution advocates a different approach: to directly operate on the input-output behavior of such systems, without identifying states and their transitions in the first place. We discuss the benefits of this approach at hand of some examples, which demonstrate that it nicely integrates with concepts of self-stabilization and fault-tolerance. We also elaborate on some unexpected artefacts of module composition in our framework, and conclude with some open research questions.
Springer