Probabilistic state space search

Abstract

This paper describes a probabilistic approach to state space search. The presented method applies a ranking of the design states according to their probability of reaching a given target state based on a random walk model. This ranking can be used to prioritize an explicit or partial symbolic state exploration to find a trajectory from a set of initial states to a set of target states. A symbolic technique for estimating the reachability probability is described which implements a smooth trade-off between accuracy and computing effort. The presented probabilistic state space search complements incomplete verification methods which are specialized in finding errors in large designs.