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[CFK+13b] T. Chen, V. Forejt, M. Kwiatkowska, D. Parker and A. Simaitis. Automatic Verification of Competitive Stochastic Systems. Formal Methods in System Design, pages 43(1), pages 61-92, Springer. February 2013. [pdf] [bib]
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Notes: This is an extended journal version of [CFK+12]. Details of the models and properties presented in the paper are here. See also the accompanying tool PRISM-games. The original publication is available at link.springer.com.
Abstract. We present automatic verification techniques for the modelling and analysis of probabilistic systems that incorporate competitive behaviour. These systems are modelled as turn-based stochastic multi-player games, in which the players can either collaborate or compete in order to achieve a particular goal. We define a temporal logic called rPATL for expressing quantitative properties of stochastic multi-player games. This logic allows us to reason about the collective ability of a set of players to achieve a goal relating to the probability of an event's occurrence or the expected amount of cost/reward accumulated. We give an algorithm for verifying properties expressed in this logic and implement the techniques in a probabilistic model checker, as an extension of the PRISM tool. We demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of our methods by deploying them to analyse and detect potential weaknesses in a variety of large case studies, including algorithms for energy management in Microgrids and collective decision making for autonomous systems.