Probabilistic thread algebra

TL;DR

This paper introduces probabilistic features into basic thread algebra and its extensions, enabling formal reasoning about probabilistic instruction sequences, scheduling algorithms, and interaction with services.

Contribution

It provides a formal framework for probabilistic thread behaviors, extending existing algebraic models with probabilistic instructions and strategies.

Findings

Formalization of probabilistic thread behaviors

Integration of probabilistic instructions with thread-service interaction

Modeling of probabilistic scheduling algorithms

Abstract

We add probabilistic features to basic thread algebra and its extensions with thread-service interaction and strategic interleaving. Here, threads represent the behaviours produced by instruction sequences under execution and services represent the behaviours exhibited by the components of execution environments of instruction sequences. In a paper concerned with probabilistic instruction sequences, we proposed several kinds of probabilistic instructions and gave an informal explanation for each of them. The probabilistic features added to the extension of basic thread algebra with thread-service interaction make it possible to give a formal explanation in terms of non-probabilistic instructions and probabilistic services. The probabilistic features added to the extensions of basic thread algebra with strategic interleaving make it possible to cover strategies corresponding to probabilistic scheduling algorithms.