Logical characterisations, rule formats and compositionality for input-output conformance simulation

Abstract

Input-output conformance simulation (iocos) has been proposed by Gregorio- Rodríguez, Llana and Martínez-Torres as a simulation-based behavioural preorder underlying model-based testing. This relation is inspired by Tretmans’ classic ioco relation, but has better worst-case complexity than ioco and supports stepwise refinement. The goal of this paper is to develop the theory of iocos by studying logical characterisations of this relation, rule formats for it and its compositionality. More specifically, this article presents characterisations of iocos in terms of modal logics and compares them with an existing logical characterisation for ioco proposed by Beohar and Mousavi. It also offers a characteristic-formula construction for iocos over finite processes in an extension of the proposed modal logics with greatest fixed points. A precongruence rule format for iocos and a rule format ensuring that operations take quiescence properly into account are also given. Both rule formats are based on the GSOS format by Bloom, Istrail and Meyer. The general modal decomposition methodology of Fokkink and van Glabbeek is used to show how to check the satisfaction of properties expressed in the logic for iocos in a compositional way for operations specified by rules in the precongruence rule format for iocos.