Concurrency Theory: Calculi an Automata for Modelling Untimed and Timed Concurrent Systems

The book presents an extensive introduction to LOTOS highlighting how the approach differs from competitor techniques such as CCS and CSP. The notation is illustrated by a number of running examples and by using the LOTOS process calculus a spectrum of semantic models for concurrent systems are reviewed. Specifically, linear-time semantics; based on traces; branching-time semantics; using both labelled transition systems and refusals, are used to highlight true concurrency semantics using event structures.

In addition to this a simple timed extension to LOTOS is introduced using running examples, allowing consideration of how the untimed semantic models – traces, labelled transition systems, refusals and event structures – can be generalised to the timed setting. The authors also generalise the simple communicating automata notation to yield timed automata with multi-way synchronisation using model-checking verification methods and new techniques to prevent time-locks from arising.