Section: New Software and Platforms

ByMC

Byzantine Model Checker

Keywords: Model Checker - Distributed computing - Verification

Scientific Description: In recent work, we have introduced a series of techniques for automatic verification of threshold-guarded distributed algorithms that have the following features: (1) up to $t$ of $n$ processes may exhibit crash or Byzantine failures, (2) the correct processes count messages and progress when they receive sufficiently many messages, e.g., at least $t+1$, (3) the number $n$ of processes in the system is a parameter, as well as $t$, (4) and the parameters are restricted by a resilience condition, e.g., $n>3t$.

ByMC supports a parallel mode, which allows one to run verification experiments in an MPI cluster such as Grid5000 and Vienna Scientific Cluster.

Functional Description: ByMC implements several techniques for the parameterized verification of threshold-guarded distributed algorithms such as reliable broadcast, one-step Byzantine consensus, non-blocking atomic commit, condition-based consensus, and randomized consensus. The tool accepts two kinds of inputs: (i) threshold automata (the framework of our verification techniques) and (ii) Parametric Promela (which is similar to the way in which the distributed algorithms are presented in the distributed computing literature). Internally, the tool analyzes representative executions by querying an SMT solver. Apart from verification, ByMC also implements a technique for the automatic synthesis of threshold guards.

The tool can run on a single computer as well as in an MPI cluster, e.g., Grid5000 or Vienna Scientific Cluster.

News Of The Year: In 2019, we have shown how to apply ByMC to randomized fault-tolerant consensus algorithms such as randomized consensus by Ben-Or and RS-BOSCO. This result was presented at CONCUR 2019.

• Partner: Technische Universität Wien

• Contact: Igor Konnov

• Publications: ByMC: Byzantine Model Checker - Reachability in Parameterized Systems: All Flavors of Threshold Automata - Model Checking of Fault-Tolerant Distributed Algorithms: from Classics towards Contemporary - Verification of Randomized Distributed Algorithms under Round-Rigid Adversaries

• URL: https://forsyte.at/software/bymc/