Interface synthesis and protocol conversion

Given deterministic interfaces P and Q, we investigate the problem of synthesising an interface R such that P composed with R refines Q. We show that a solution exists iff P and Q are compatible, and the most general solution is given by (P Q ) , where P is the interface P with inputs and outputs interchanged. Remarkably, the result holds both for asynchronous and synchronous interfaces. We model interfaces using the interface automata formalism of de Alfaro and Henzinger. For the synchronous case, we give a new definition of synchronous interface automata based on Mealy machines and show that the result holds for a weak form of nondeterminism, called observable nondeterminism. We also characterise solutions to the synthesis problem in terms of winning input strategies in the automaton (P Q ) , and the most general solution in terms of the most permissive winning strategy. We apply the solution to the synthesis of converters for mismatched protocols in both the asynchronous and synchr...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: FAC
• Authors: Purandar Bhaduri, S. Ramesh
• Keywords: FAC 2006, FAC 2008, Interface Automata, Solution, Synchronous Interface