Predicate Abstraction in Program Verification: Survey and Current Trends

A popular approach to verification of software system correctness is model checking. To achieve scalability needed for large systems, model checking has to be augmented with abstraction. In this paper, we provide an overview of selected techniques of program verification based on predicate abstraction. We focus on techniques that advanced the state-of-the-art in a significant way, including counterexample-guided abstraction refinement, lazy abstraction, and current trends in the form of extensions targeting, for example, data structures and multi-threading. We discuss limitations of these techniques and present our plans for addressing some of them