A domain-specific language to design false data injection tests for air traffic control systems

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - The ADS-B—automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast—technology requires aircraft to broadcast their position and...     

Controlling test case explosion in test generation from B formal models

BZ‐TESTING‐TOOLS (BZ‐TT) is a tool set for automated test case generation from B and Z specifications. BZ‐TT uses boundary and cause–effect testing on the basis of the formal model. It has been used and validated on several industrial applications in the domain of critical software, particularly smart card and transport systems. This paper presents the test coverage criteria supported by BZ‐TT. On the one hand, these correspond to various classical structural coverage criteria, but specialized to the case of B abstract machines. The paper gives algorithms for these in Prolog. On the other hand, BZ‐TT introduces new coverage criteria for complex data structures, based on boundary analysis: this paper defines weak and strong state‐boundary coverage, input‐boundary coverage and output‐boundary coverage. Finally, the paper describes how BZ‐TT presents a unified view of these criteria to the validation engineer, and allows him or her to control the test case explosion on a coarse basis (choosing from a range of coverage criteria) as well as a fine basis (selecting options for each state or input variable). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generation of test sequences from formal specifications: GSM 11‐11 standard case study

This paper presents the results of a case study on generating test cases for a fragment of the smart card GSM 11‐11 standard. The generation method is based on an original approach using the B notation and techniques of constraint logic programming with sets. The GSM 11‐11 technical specifications were formalized with the B notation. From this B specification, a system of constraints was derived, equivalent to this formal model. Using a set constraint solver, boundary states were computed and test cases were obtained by traversing the constrained reachability graph of the specifications. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the contribution of this testing environment, called B ‐TESTING ‐TOOLS , in an industrial process on a real life‐size application, by comparing the generated test sequences with the already used and high‐quality manually‐designed tests. This comparison enabled us to validate our approach and showed its effectiveness in the validation process of critical applications: the case study gives a wide coverage (about 85%) of the generated tests compared to the pre‐existing tests and a saving of 30% in test design time. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CLPS–B – A constraint solver to animate a B specification

This paper proposes an approach to evaluating B formal specifications using constraint logic programming with sets (CLPS). This approach is used to animate and generate test sequences from B formal specifications. The solver, called CLPS–B, is described in terms of constraint domains, consistency verification, and constraint propagation. It is more powerful than most constraint systems because it allows the domain of variable to contain other variables, which increases the level of abstraction. The constrained state propagates the nondeterminism of the B specifications and reduces the number of states in a reachability graph. We illustrate this approach by comparing the constrained state graph exploration with the concrete one in a simple example – process scheduler. We also describe the automated test generation method that uses the CLPS–B solver to better control combinational explosion.     

Achieving SCA Conformance Testing with Model-Based Testing

Time-to-market and implementation cost are high-priority considerations in the automation of digital hardware design. Nowadays, digital signal processing applications are implemented into fixed-point architectures due to its advantage of manipulating data with lower word-length. Thus, floating-point to fixed point conversion is mandatory. This conversion is translated into optimizing the integer word length and fractional word length. Optimizing the integer word-length can significantly reduce the cost when the application is tolerant to a low probability of overflow. In this paper, a new selective simulation technique to accelerate overflow effect analysis is introduced. A new integer word-length optimization algorithm that exploits this selective simulation technique is proposed to reduce both implementation cost and optimization time. The efficiency of our proposals is illustrated through experiments, where selective simulation technique allows accelerating the execution time of up to 1200 and 1000 when applied on Global Positioning System and on Fast Fourier Transform part (FFT) of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing chain respectively. Moreover, applying the optimization algorithm on the FFT part leads to a cost reduction between 17 to 22 % with respect to interval arithmetic and an acceleration factor of up to 617 with respect to classical max-1 algorithm.     

Nitrobenzene liquid-phase hydrogenation in a membrane reactor

This work presents the potentialities of a catalytic membrane reactor in a gas-liquid-solid reaction. A catalytic membrane has been prepared via well-controlled platinum deposition within the porous framework of a γ-Al₂O₃ mesoporous membrane. The hydrogenation of nitrobenzene to aniline has been performed using the catalytic membrane as an active gas-liquid contactor. Some operating parameters controlling the membrane reactor performance have been explored and compared with the behaviour of conventional reactors.