Process Composition and Interleave Reduction in Parallel Process Specification

摘要

In formal specification languages for parallel processes, such as CSP and LOTOS, algebraic laws for basic operators are provided that can be used to transform process expressions, and in particular, composition of processes can be calculated using these laws. Process composition can be used to simplify and improve the specification, and also to prove properties of the specification such as deadlock absence. We here test the practicality of process composition using CSP and suggest useful techniques, working in an example with nontrivial size and complexity. We emphasize that the size explosion of composed processes, caused by interleaving of the events of component pro-- cesses, is a serious problem. Then we propose a technique, which we name two-way pipe, that can be used to reduce the size of the composed process, regarded as a program optimization at specification level.