Truly On-the-Fly LTL Model Checking

We propose a novel algorithm for automata-based LTL model checking that interleaves the construction of the generalized Büchi automaton for the negation of the formula and the emptiness check. Our algorithm first converts the LTL formula into a linear weak alternating automaton; configurations of the alternating automaton correspond to the locations of a generalized Büchi automaton, and a variant of Tarjan’s algorithm is used to decide the existence of an accepting run of the product of the transition system and the automaton. Because we avoid an explicit construction of the Büchi automaton, our approach can yield significant improvements in runtime and memory, for large LTL formulas. The algorithm has been implemented within the Spin model checker, and we present experimental results for some benchmark examples.