The ForSpec temporal logic: A new temporal property-specification language

Abstract

In this paper we describe the ForSpec Temporal Logic (FTL), the new temporal property-specification logic of ForSpec, Intel's new formal specification language. The key features of FTL are as follows: it is a linear temporal logic, based on Pnueli's LTL, it is based on a rich set of logical and arithmetical operations on bit vectors to describe state properties, it enables the user to define temporal connectives over time windows, it enables the user to define regular events, which are regular sequences of Boolean events, and then relate such events via special connectives, it enables the user to express properties about the past, and it includes constructs that enable the user to model multiple clock and reset signals, which is useful in the verification of hardware design. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002.