Dejan Nickovic

Bio: Dejan Nickovic is an academic researcher from Austrian Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Temporal logic & Computer science. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 89 publications receiving 3021 citations. Previous affiliations of Dejan Nickovic include Institute of Science and Technology Austria & Vienna University of Technology.

Monitoring Temporal Properties of Continuous Signals

Abstract: In this paper we introduce a variant of temporal logic tailored for specifying desired properties of continuous signals. The logic is based on a bounded subset of the real-time logic mitl, augmented with a static mapping from continuous domains into propositions. From formulae in this logic we create automatically property monitors that can check whether a given signal of bounded length and finite variability satisfies the property. A prototype implementation of this procedure was used to check properties of simulation traces generated by Matlab/Simulink.

Specification-Based Monitoring of Cyber-Physical Systems: A Survey on Theory, Tools and Applications

Abstract: The term Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) typically refers to engineered, physical and biological systems monitored and/or controlled by an embedded computational core. The behaviour of a CPS over time is generally characterised by the evolution of physical quantities, and discrete software and hardware states. In general, these can be mathematically modelled by the evolution of continuous state variables for the physical components interleaved with discrete events. Despite large effort and progress in the exhaustive verification of such hybrid systems, the complexity of CPS models limits formal verification of safety of their behaviour only to small instances. An alternative approach, closer to the practice of simulation and testing, is to monitor and to predict CPS behaviours at simulation-time or at runtime. In this chapter, we summarise the state-of-the-art techniques for qualitative and quantitative monitoring of CPS behaviours. We present an overview of some of the important applications and, finally, we describe the tools supporting CPS monitoring and compare their main features.

Contracts for System Design

Abstract: Recently, contract-based design has been proposed as an “orthogonal” approach that complements system design methodologies proposed so far to cope with the complexity of system design. Contract-based design provides a rigorous scaffolding for verification, analysis, abstraction/refinement, and even synthesis. A number of results have been obtained in this domain but a unified treatment of the topic that can help put contract-based design in perspective was missing. This monograph intends to provide such a treatment where contracts are precisely defined and characterized so that they can be used in design methodologies with no ambiguity. In particular, this monograph identifies the essence of complex system design using contracts through a mathematical “meta-theory”, where all the properties of the methodology are derived from a very abstract and generic notion of contract. We show that the meta-theory provides deep and illuminating links with existing contract and interface theories, as well as guidelines for designing new theories. Our study encompasses contracts for both software and systems, with emphasis on the latter. We illustrate the use of contracts with two examples: requirement engineering for a parking garage management, and the development of contracts for timing and scheduling in the context of the AUTOSAR methodology in use in the automotive sector.

From MITL to timed automata

Abstract: We show how to transform formulae written in the real-time temporal logic MITL into timed automata that recognize their satisfying models. This compositional construction is much simpler than previously known and can be easily implemented.

Parametric identification of temporal properties

Abstract: Given a dense-time real-valued signal and a parameterized temporal logic formula with both magnitude and timing parameters, we compute the subset of the parameter space that renders the formula satisfied by the trace. We provide two preliminary implementations, one which follows the exact semantics and attempts to compute the validity domain by quantifier elimination in linear arithmetics and one which conducts adaptive search in the parameter space.

Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems. Proc. TACAS 2009

Abstract: ing WS1S Systems to Verify Parameterized Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Kai Baukus, Saddek Bensalem, Yassine Lakhnech and Karsten Stahl FMona: A Tool for Expressing Validation Techniques over Infinite State Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 J.-P. Bodeveix and M. Filali Transitive Closures of Regular Relations for Verifying Infinite-State Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Bengt Jonsson and Marcus Nilsson Diagnostic and Test Generation Using Static Analysis to Improve Automatic Test Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Marius Bozga, Jean-Claude Fernandez and Lucian Ghirvu Efficient Diagnostic Generation for Boolean Equation Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Radu Mateescu Efficient Model-Checking Compositional State Space Generation with Partial Order Reductions for Asynchronous Communicating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 Jean-Pierre Krimm and Laurent Mounier Checking for CFFD-Preorder with Tester Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Juhana Helovuo and Antti Valmari Fair Bisimulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Thomas A. Henzinger and Sriram K. Rajamani Integrating Low Level Symmetries into Reachability Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Karsten Schmidt Model-Checking Tools Model Checking Support for the ASM High-Level Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Giuseppe Del Castillo and Kirsten Winter Table of

Model Driven Engineering

Abstract: The Object Management Group's (OMG) Model Driven Architecture (MDA) strategy envisages a world where models play a more direct role in software production, being amenable to manipulation and transformation by machine. Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is wider in scope than MDA. MDE combines process and analysis with architecture. This article sets out a framework for model driven engineering, which can be used as a point of reference for activity in this area. It proposes an organisation of the modelling 'space' and how to locate models in that space. It discusses different kinds of mappings between models. It explains why process and architecture are tightly connected. It discusses the importance and nature of tools. It identifies the need for defining families of languages and transformations, and for developing techniques for generating/configuring tools from such definitions. It concludes with a call to align metamodelling with formal language engineering techniques.

Processing flows of information: From data stream to complex event processing

Abstract: A large number of distributed applications requires continuous and timely processing of information as it flows from the periphery to the center of the system. Examples include intrusion detection systems which analyze network traffic in real-time to identify possible attacks; environmental monitoring applications which process raw data coming from sensor networks to identify critical situations; or applications performing online analysis of stock prices to identify trends and forecast future values.Traditional DBMSs, which need to store and index data before processing it, can hardly fulfill the requirements of timeliness coming from such domains. Accordingly, during the last decade, different research communities developed a number of tools, which we collectively call Information flow processing (IFP) systems, to support these scenarios. They differ in their system architecture, data model, rule model, and rule language. In this article, we survey these systems to help researchers, who often come from different backgrounds, in understanding how the various approaches they adopt may complement each other.In particular, we propose a general, unifying model to capture the different aspects of an IFP system and use it to provide a complete and precise classification of the systems and mechanisms proposed so far.

Robust satisfaction of temporal logic over real-valued signals

Abstract: We consider temporal logic formulae specifying constraints in continuous time and space on the behaviors of continuous and hybrid dynamical system admitting uncertain parameters. We present several variants of robustness measures that indicate how far a given trajectory stands, in space and time, from satisfying or violating a property. We present a method to compute these robustness measures as well as their sensitivity to the parameters of the system or parameters appearing in the formula. Combined with an appropriate strategy for exploring the parameter space, this technique can be used to guide simulation-based verification of complex nonlinear and hybrid systems against temporal properties. Our methodology can be used for other non-traditional applications of temporal logic such as characterizing subsets of the parameter space for which a system is guaranteed to satisfy a formula with a desired robustness degree.