A complete bounded model checking algorithm for pushdown systems

Abstract

Pushdown systems (PDSs) consist of a stack and a finite state machine and are frequently used to model abstractions of software. They correspond to sequential recursive programs with finite-domain variables. This paper presents a novel algorithm for deciding reachability of particular locations of PDSs. We exploit the fact that most PDSs used in practice are shallow, and propose to use SAT-based Bounded Model Checking to search for counterexamples. Completeness is achieved by computing universal summaries of the procedures in the program. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.