A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs

Pacemakers are safety-critical devices whose faulty behaviors can cause harm or even death. Often these faulty behaviors are caused due to bugs in programs used for digital control of pacemakers. We present a formal verification methodology that can be used to check the correctness of object code pr...

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Main Authors: Sana Shuja, Sudarshan K. Srinivasan, Shaista Jabeen, Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/939028
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author Sana Shuja
Sudarshan K. Srinivasan
Shaista Jabeen
Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna
author_facet Sana Shuja
Sudarshan K. Srinivasan
Shaista Jabeen
Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna
author_sort Sana Shuja
collection DOAJ
description Pacemakers are safety-critical devices whose faulty behaviors can cause harm or even death. Often these faulty behaviors are caused due to bugs in programs used for digital control of pacemakers. We present a formal verification methodology that can be used to check the correctness of object code programs that implement the safety-critical control functions of DDD mode pacemakers. Our methodology is based on the theory of Well-Founded Equivalence Bisimulation (WEB) refinement, where both formal specifications and implementation are treated as transition systems. We develop a simple and general formal specification for DDD mode pacemakers. We also develop correctness proof obligations that can be applied to validate object code programs used for pacemaker control. Using our methodology, we were able to verify a control program with millions of transitions against the simple specification with only 10 transitions. Our method also found several bugs during the verification process.
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issn 2090-0147
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publishDate 2015-01-01
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series Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
spelling doaj-art-2bd2be4fe24545199bc5d22ae671b3bc2025-08-20T02:04:49ZengWileyJournal of Electrical and Computer Engineering2090-01472090-01552015-01-01201510.1155/2015/939028939028A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control ProgramsSana Shuja0Sudarshan K. Srinivasan1Shaista Jabeen2Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Boulevard, Fargo, ND 58102, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Boulevard, Fargo, ND 58102, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Boulevard, Fargo, ND 58102, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Dakota State University, 1411 Centennial Boulevard, Fargo, ND 58102, USAPacemakers are safety-critical devices whose faulty behaviors can cause harm or even death. Often these faulty behaviors are caused due to bugs in programs used for digital control of pacemakers. We present a formal verification methodology that can be used to check the correctness of object code programs that implement the safety-critical control functions of DDD mode pacemakers. Our methodology is based on the theory of Well-Founded Equivalence Bisimulation (WEB) refinement, where both formal specifications and implementation are treated as transition systems. We develop a simple and general formal specification for DDD mode pacemakers. We also develop correctness proof obligations that can be applied to validate object code programs used for pacemaker control. Using our methodology, we were able to verify a control program with millions of transitions against the simple specification with only 10 transitions. Our method also found several bugs during the verification process.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/939028
spellingShingle Sana Shuja
Sudarshan K. Srinivasan
Shaista Jabeen
Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna
A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering
title A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
title_full A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
title_fullStr A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
title_full_unstemmed A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
title_short A Formal Verification Methodology for DDD Mode Pacemaker Control Programs
title_sort formal verification methodology for ddd mode pacemaker control programs
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/939028
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