Action Refinement in Process Algebras (Distinguished Dissertations in Computer Science, Series Number 3) - Hardcover

Aceto, Luca

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521431115 ISBN 13: 9780521431118

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Dr. Aceto studies the notion of action refinement in the setting of process description languages, together with behavioral equivalences for them and their associated proof systems. The presentation is organized into three parts. In the first, a semantic theory of processes based on atomic actions is used to give results that serve as a stepping stone toward the more complex theories needed to support action refinement. The core of the book then develops suitable notions of process equivalence for increasingly complex languages with operators for action refinement. This approach is used to highlight the difficulties introduced by synchronization among actions and scoping operators. In the final part, the author deals with the possibility of using action refinement to "observe" indirectly the causal relationships among actions in a system. A preliminary semantic theory for concurrent systems that relates concurrency and nondeterminism without reducing the former to the latter is also studied in some detail.

About this title

Book Description

In this award-winning thesis, Dr Aceto extends the notion of action refinement to the setting of process description languages.

Review

"an indepth theoretical study of both action refinement and the relationship of interleaving semantics to true concurrency. The goal of this work is to develop a semantic equivalence in the process algebra setting that does not equate parallelism and sequential nondeterminism, use the semantics developed to give semantics to a process algebra with a refinement operator, and finally to provide a means of relating parallelism and sequential nondeterminism without equating them. In all three aspects, the author has succeeded admirably. For those interested in process refinement, true concurrency, and interleaving, and possessing a knowledge of process algebras it is both a good introduction and reference." Amy Zwarico, SIGACT News

"...displays both a high degree of technical competence and a nice flowing writing style. Paul Cull, Computing Reviews

"...contains some important developments in the understanding of concurrent processes and it is warmly recommended to researchers in the theory of parallel computation." Andrea Maggiolo-Schettini, Mathematical Reviews

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521431115
• ISBN 13: 9780521431118
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 283