Counter-Example Generation in Symbolic Abstract Model-Checking

Abstract:
The boundaries of model-checking have been extended through the use of abstraction. When applied to correct programs, these techniques work very well in practice. However, when applied to in correct programs, it is, in general, undecidable whether an abstract trace corresponding to a counter-example has any concrete counterparts. For debugging purposes, one usually desires to go further than giving a yes/no answer, and generate such concrete counter-examples. We propose a solution in which we apply standard test-pattern generation technology to search for concrete instances of abstract traces.

Reference:

@article{
title={Counter-example generation in symbolic abstract model-checking},
author={G. Pace and N. Halbwachs and P. Raymond},
journal={Software Tools for Technology Transfer},
volume=5,
number={2---3},
month=mar,
year=2004
}

preliminary version published as

@inproceedings{
title={Counter-example generation in symbolic abstract model-checking},
author={G. Pace and N. Halbwachs and P. Raymond},
booktitle={6th International Workshop on Formal Methods for Industrial Critical 
            Systems, FMICS'2001},
publisher={Inria},
address={Paris},
month=jul,
year=2001
}

Postscript file