An integrated method for effective behaviour analysis of distributed systems
Shing-Chi Cheung, Jeff Kramer · 1994
Behaviour analysis is a valuable aid for the design and maintenance of well-behaved distributed systems. Dataflow and reachability analyses are two orthogonal but complementary behaviour analysis techniques. Individually, each of these techniques may be inadequate for the analysis of large-scale distributed systems. On the one hand, dataflow analysis algorithms, while tractable, may be not sufficiently accurate to provide meaningful detection of errors. On the other hand, reachability analysis, while providing exhaustive analysis, may be computationally too expensive for complex systems. In this paper, we present a method which integrates a dataflow and a reachability analysis technique to provide a flexible and effective means for analysing distributed systems at preliminary and final design stages respectively. We also describe some effective measures taken to improve the adequacy of the individual analysis techniques using concepts of action dependency and context constraints.A prototype supporting the method has been built and its performance is described in the paper. A realistic example of a distributed track control system is used as a case study.