An Analysis of Bitstate Hashing

The bitstate hashing, or supertrace, technique was introduced in 1987 as a method to increase the quality of verification by reachability analyses for applications that defeat analysis by traditional means because of their size. Since then, the technique has been included in many research verification tools, and was adopted in tools that are marketed commercially. It is therefore important that we understand well how and why the method works, what its limitations are, and how it compares with alternative methods over a broad range of problem sizes. The original motivation for the bitstate hashing technique was based on empirical evidence of its effectiveness. In this paper we provide an analytical argument. We compare the technique with two alternatives that have been proposed in the recent literature. We also describe a sequential bitstate hashing technique that can be of value when confronted with very large problem sizes.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1998
• Where: FMSD
• Authors: Gerard J. Holzmann
• Keywords: Bitstate Hashing Technique, FMSD 1998, Problem Sizes, Research Verification Tools