Formal specifications in reverse engineering and software verification

KVEST – Kernel VErification and Specification Technology – is based on automated test generation from formal specifications. The technology was developed under a contract with Nortel Networks and is based on experience gained in academic research [1]. By 2000 the methodology and the toolset have been applied in 6 industrial projects dealing with the verification of large-scale telecommunication software. The first project, named Kernel Verification project, gave its name to the methodology and the toolset as a whole. The results of this project are presented in the Formal Method Europe Application database [28]. It is one of the largest formal method applications presented in the database. This paper provides a brief description of the approach, a comparison to related research, and prospects for the future work*.