Measuring and synthesizing systems in probabilistic environments

Abstract

Often one has a preference order among the different systems that satisfy a given specification. Under a probabilistic assumption about the possible inputs, such a preference order is naturally expressed by a weighted automaton, which assigns to each word a value, such that a system is preferred if it generates a higher expected value. We solve the following optimal-synthesis problem: given an omega-regular specification, a Markov chain that describes the distribution of inputs, and a weighted automaton that measures how well a system satisfies the given specification under the given input assumption, synthesize a system that optimizes the measured value. For safety specifications and measures that are defined by mean-payoff automata, the optimal-synthesis problem amounts to finding a strategy in a Markov decision process (MDP) that is optimal for a long-run average reward objective, which can be done in polynomial time. For general omega-regular specifications, the solution rests on a new, polynomial-time algorithm for computing optimal strategies in MDPs with mean-payoff parity objectives. We present some experimental results showing optimal systems that were automatically generated in this way. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.