Implicit model checking: formal verification technique for large-scale discrete systems

The state explosion problem poses great challenges for formal verification of large-scale discrete systems due to exponential space and time requirements. The paper introduces a formal verification technique for large-scale discrete systems called implicit model checking. Within this framework discrete systems are compactly represented by a set of Boolean equations, and the verification problem posed as a Boolean satisfiability problem is solved efficiently by enumerating discrete state space implicitly. Implicit model checking is suitable for large-scale problems since it does not require exponential space. The methodology is applied to large-scale logic-based control systems in chemical processes.