Verifying formal specifications using fault tree analysis

Specification before implementation has been suggested as a sensible approach to software evolution. The quality of this approach may be improved by using formal specification. However, to serve as a trustable foundation for implementation and to help reduce the cost of program testing, the formal specification must be ensured to be satisfiable, consistent, complete and accurate in recording the user requirements. In this paper, we first define these four concepts and then introduce a technique for verifying formal specifications that combines fault-tree analysis with static analysis and testing techniques.