Can Message Buffers Be Axiomatized in Linear Temporal Logic?

Message passing is one of the primary modes of interprocess communication in a distributed system. In this paper we investigate the possibility of characterizing and axiomatizing different message passing systems in temporal logic. Specifically, we consider FIFO buffers (queues), LIFO buffers (stacks) and unordered buffers (bags). We show that all bounded buffers are characterizable in propositional temporal logic (PTL) and so are axiomatizable. We prove that the theory of unbounded FIFO buffers is ~l-complete and so is not axiomatizable. We also prove that the theories of unbounded LIFO and unordered buffers are decidable and hence are axiomatizable. @ 1984 Academic Press, Inc.