Structural analysis of protocol specifications and generation of maximal fault coverage conformance test sequences

摘要

A theoretical analysis of the fault coverage of conformance test sequences for communication protocols specified as finite state machines is presented. Faults of different types are considered, and their effect on testing is analyzed. The interaction between faults of different categories and the impact it has on conformance testing is investigated. Fault coverage is defined for the testing of both incompletely-specified machines (ISMs) and completely-specified machines (CSMs). An algorithm is presented to generate test sequences with maximal fault coverage for the testing of ISMs. It is then augmented for the testing of CSMs, and finally a technique is presented for generating test sequences which provides guaranteed maximal fault coverage for the conformance testing of communication protocols.