Testing of automata system

The problem of testing of aggregate systems is considered. The system is described as an oriented graph where the nodes correspond to component automata while edges correspond to simplex communication channels. The following hypothesis is assumed: the graph of links is static and the link structure is error-free. At each state, a component automaton can accept and send multiple messages through incoming and outgoing edges (at most one message through each edge). The goal of testing is to cover transitions of component automata reachable during the system work. It is assumed that during testing it is possible to observe the state changes of automata and the messages on the edges. The general model is considered when the system can simultaneously contain multiple messages, but not more than one for each edge. An automata composition is defined and the restrictions on automata making the system deterministic are described. An algorithm of test generation is proposed basing on test filtration generated for covering all transitions of the deterministic composition system. A test is rejected if it covers only transitions of the components that are covered by other tests. A simplified system model with only one message in transit is considered at the end. Using this example, we show that the hypothesis on links allows considerably reduce the number of required testing actions from the product of state numbers of the component automata to the sum of these numbers. If all the automata have the same number of states then it gives the exponential reduction of the number of test actions. In conclusion, some directions of future research are considered.

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