Protocol validation in complex systems

Abstract

Protocol validation and verification techniques have been applied successfully for a number of years to a wide range of protocols. The increasing complexity of our communications systems requires us to examine existing techniques and make a realistic assessment of which techniques will be applicable to the complex systems of the future. We believe that validation techniques based on an exhaustive reachability analysis will not be effective. Sampling techniques, such as executing a random walk through the reachable state space, are effective in complex systems, since most protocol errors occur in many different states of the system.