Action Refinement in Process Algebras
Action Refinement in Process Algebras
Out of Print
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.
- Award-winning thesis - some of the best work of the year in theoretical computer science
- Parallel computation is one of the largest growth areas in computer science
Reviews & endorsements
"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
Product details
August 1992Hardback
9780521431118
283 pages
255 × 179 × 18 mm
0.682kg
Unavailable - out of print March 2007
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. Introduction
- 2. A semantic theory based on atomic actions
- 3. Action refinement for a simple language
- 4. Action refinement for communicating processes
- 5. Full abstraction for series-parallel pomsets
- 6. On relating concurrency and nondeterminism
- 7. Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index.
