Approximate Symbolic Model Checking using Overlapping Projections

Symbolic Model Checking extends the scope of verification algorithms that can be handled automatically, by using symbolic representations rather than explicitly searching the entire state space of the model. However even the most sophisticated symbolic methods cannot be directly applied to many of today's large designs because of the state explosion problem. Approximate symbolic model checking is an attempt to trade off accuracy with the capacity to deal with bigger designs. This paper explores the idea of using overlapping projections as the underlying approximation scheme. The idea is evaluated by applying it to several modules from the I/O unit in the Stanford FLASH Multiprocessor, and some larger circuits in ISCAS89 benchmark suite.