Model checking the probabilistic pi-calculus

Abstract

We present an implementation of model checking for the probabilistic pi-calculus-calculus, a process algebra which supports modelling of concurrency, mobility and discrete probabilistic behaviour. Formal verification techniques for this calculus have clear applications in several domains, including mobile ad-hoc network protocols and random security protocols. Despite this, no implementation of automated verification exists. Building upon the (non-probabilistic) pi-calculus model checker MMC, we first show an automated procedure for constructing the Markov decision process representing a probabilistic pi-calculus process. This can then be verified using existing probabilistic model checkers such as PRISM. Secondly, we demonstrate how for a large class of systems a more efficient, compositional approach can be applied, which uses our extension of MMC on each parallel component of the system and then translates the results into a high-level model description for the PRISM tool. The feasibility of our techniques is demonstrated through three case studies from the pi-calculus literature.