Dynamic partial-order reduction for model checking software

Abstract

We present a new approach to partial-order reduction for model checking software. This approach is based on initially exploring an arbitrary interleaving of the various concurrent processes/threads, and dynamically tracking interactions between these to identify backtracking points where alternative paths in the state space need to be explored. We present examples of multi-threaded programs where our new dynamic partial-order reduction technique significantly reduces the search space, even though traditional partial-order algorithms are helpless.