Static Verification of Wireless Sensor Networks with Formal Methods

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are widely recognized as a solution to build monitoring systems, even in critical environments. WSNs, however, are subjected to faults due to several causes (i.e. rain, EMF radiations, vibrations, etc..) and tools and methodologies for the design of dependable WSN-based systems are needed. Formal methods partially meet such needs by assessing the degree of correctness of design models and identifying potential system bottlenecks. The aim of this paper is to define a methodology for the static verification of WSN based systems using a formal language (Event Calculus). In particular we show how the formal specification can be used to verify the design of a WSN in terms of its dependability properties. To this aim, we define a set of correctness specifications that apply to a generic WSN, coupled with specific structural specifications describing the target network topology to evaluate. Finally, after having presented an automatic tool, designed to support the designer, we adopt this methodology to a case study.