Lessons Learned Model Checking an Industrial Communications Library

Model checking is a fully automated formal verification technology that can be used to determine whether models of software satisfy behavioral requirements in such areas as safety, reliability, and security. This report explores the packaging of model checking technology in a reasoning framework. The goal of a reasoning framework is to simplify the analysis of software designs by nonexperts. This report describes the application of such a reasoning framework to the design of an industrial communications library and the problems that were found. This report also notes the tasks that were unreasonably complex or time consuming and concludes with thoughts on techniques that could be used to develop a model checking reasoning framework that better supports use by nonexperts. The original document contains color images.