Formal verification of Statecharts using finite-state model checkers

This paper presents a new approach to the formal verification of properties of discrete control specifications given by Statecharts. Specifications for the Statechart behavior are given by temporal logic expressions for the Statechart computation tree, that is, the tree of possible sequences of Statechart configurations. To take advantage of existing model checking technology, the Statechart is converted into a finite-state representation and the Statechart specification is converted into an equivalent specification for the finite-state system. The definitions and general procedure applies for arbitrary Statechart semantics (a specific semantics results in a particular realization of the procedure). The results are illustrated with examples using the Math-Works Stateflow Toolbox (for Statecharts) and the SMV model checking program. The procedure is realized in an extension of the MATLAB sf2smv command presented in previous papers.