Monotonic Abstraction: on Efficient Verification of Parameterized Systems

We introduce the simple and efficient method of monotonic abstraction to prove safety properties for parameterized systems with linear topologies. A process in the system is a finite-state automaton, where the transitions are guarded by both local and global conditions. Processes may communicate via broadcast, rendezvous and shared variables over finite domains. The method of monotonic abstraction derives an over-approximation of the induced transition system that allows the use of a simple class of regular expressions as a symbolic representation. Compared to traditional regular model checking methods, the analysis does not require the manipulation of transducers, and hence its simplicity and efficiency. We have implemented a prototype that works well on several mutual exclusion algorithms and cache coherence protocols.