Logic for communicating automata with parameterized topology

Abstract

We introduce parameterized communicating automata (PCA) as a model of systems where finite-state processes communicate through FIFO channels. Unlike classical communicating automata, a given PCA can be run on any network topology of bounded degree. The topology is thus a parameter of the system. We provide various Büchi-Elgot-Trakhtenbrot theorems for PCA, which roughly read as follows: Given a logical specification φ and a class of topologies T there is a PCA that is equivalent to φ on all topologies from T. We give uniform constructions which allow us to instantiate T with concrete classes such as pipelines, ranked trees, grids, rings, etc. The proofs build on a locality theorem for first-order logic due to Schwentick and Barthelmann, and they exploit concepts from the non-parameterized case, notably a result by Genest, Kuske, and Muscholl.