Using model checking to assess the dependability of agent-based systems

Model checking and the problem of analyzing the dependability of complex agent-based systems are well matched. Mathematical models of simple agents are relatively straightforward to specify. We can construct a model of the system as a whole from the models of the individual agents, and we can easily express dependability properties in the logical language used in model checking. However, there's one crucial mismatch: the state spaces of complex systems are many orders of magnitude larger than automated model-checking tools can handle. So, the mathematical models of computing systems that we use in model checking must be much simpler than the systems we are modeling. Yet, the models must contain all the detail that's essential to the dependability analysis we are performing, because omitting relevant detail can invalidate the analysis results. To make model checking of agent-based systems feasible and useful, we must answer two crucial questions. Here we describe our current best answers to these questions and how we've applied them to a real-world problem - assessing the UltraLog system.