A State-Based Characterisation of the Conflict Preorder

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new state-based method to compare processes' potential for conflict in concurrent systems, providing an effective algorithm for determining process relations based on conflicts.

Contribution

It offers a novel state-based characterisation of the conflict preorder, improving theoretical understanding and enabling practical conflict comparison algorithms.

Findings

Introduces less conflicting pairs for process comparison

Provides an effective algorithm for conflict preorder determination

Enhances process conflict analysis in discrete event systems

Abstract

This paper proposes a way to effectively compare the potential of processes to cause conflict. In discrete event systems theory, two concurrent systems are said to be in conflict if they can get trapped in a situation where they are both waiting or running endlessly, forever unable to complete their common task. The conflict preorder is a process-algebraic pre-congruence that compares two processes based on their possible conflicts in combination with other processes. This paper improves on previous theoretical descriptions of the conflict preorder by introducing less conflicting pairs as a concrete state-based characterisation. Based on this characterisation, an effective algorithm is presented to determine whether two processes are related according to the conflict preorder.