A compression app for continuous probability distributions

Abstract

This paper presents an Android app supporting the construction and compact representation of continuous probability distributions. Its intuitive drag-and-drop approach considerably eases an often delicate modelling step in model-based performance and dependability evaluation, stochastic model checking, as well in the quantitative study of system-level concurrency phenomena. To compress the size of the representations, the app connects to a web service that implements an efficient compression algorithm, which constitutes the core technological innovation behind the approach. The app enables interested users to perform rapid experiments with this technology. From a more general perspective, this approach might pioneer how web service and app technology can provide a convenient vehicle for promoting and evaluating computer aided verification innovations.