Probabilistic Model Checking of Incomplete Models

Abstract: It is crucial for accurate model checking that the model be a complete and faithful representation of the system. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, mainly because of two reasons: (i) the model is still under development and (ii) the correctness of implementation of some modules is not established. In such circumstances, is it still possible to get correct answers for some model checking queries? This paper is a step towards answering this question. We formulate this problem for the Discrete Time Markov Chains (DTMC) modeling formalism and the Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL) query language. We then propose a simple solution by modifying DTMC and PCTL to accommodate three valued logic. The technique builds on existing model checking algorithms and tools, obviating the need for new ones to account for three valued logic. One of the most useful and popular techniques for modeling complex systems is through discrete event simulation. Discrete event simulators are essentially code in some programming language. We show an application of our approach on a piece of code that contains a module of unknown correctness. A preliminary version of this paper appears in the proceedings of Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation: Foundational Techniques (ISoLA 2016), LNCS 9952, Springer. Keywords: Probabilistic models, Probabilistic Model checking Three-valued Logic, Discrete Time Markov Chain, Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic.