Undergraduate Course: Communication and Concurrency (INFR10007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Informatics |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Informatics |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/teaching/courses/coc |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course provides an introduction to the Calculus of Communicating Systems (CCS) giving the theoretical foundation , examples of practical applications and logics for describing important properties. The course focuses on a mathematical model of the behaviour of concurrent systems which treats crucial notions like deadlock and non-determinism, and which reflects the modular construction of systems. The course also focuses on specifying safety and liveness properties of such systems. The approach is a mixture of operational semantics, algebra and logic. It applies alike to hardware and software. Although CCS is one of several alternative approaches, the aim is to treat it in depth rather than to make superficial comparisons with others. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Language Semantics and Implementation (INFR09014)
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Successful completion of Year 3 of an Informatics Single or Combined Honours Degree, or equivalent by permission of the School. There are no formal prerequisites although the Language Semantics & Implementation course is particularly relevant. The course requires a reasonable mathematical ability. |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
|
WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | 14:00 - 14:50 | | | | | | Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 14:00 - 14:50 | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | |
|
| Delivery period: 2012/13 Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
WebCT enabled: No |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | 14:00 - 14:50 | | | | | | Central | Lecture | | 1-11 | | | | 14:00 - 14:50 | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1 - Analyse computation, particularly concurrent systems in the process calculus CCS. The analysis consists of modelling situations by abstracting away from details and recording their fundamentals in a small computationally and mathematically appropriate formalism and then doing the same for their specifications. Finally one understands how to use all this to increase systems reliability.
2 - Define behaviour of a system as a transition graph.
3 - Understand when two systems are behaviourally equivalent. as defined by the notion of bisimulation equivalence.
4 - Verify that two systems are equivalent or prove that they are not.
5 - Specify temporal properties of systems in the branching time logic CTL.
6 - Understand the meaning of temporal formulas.
7 - Show that a system has, or fails to have, a temporal property.
8 - Use tools for systems verification.
9 - Be able to assimilate knowledge about different formalisms and tools and put them to practical use. Understanding how to apply mathematical and logical ideas in systems and other computational contexts. |
Assessment Information
Written Examination 70
Assessed Assignments 30
Oral Presentations 0
Assessment
Two submissions are required, equally weighted. The first involves extensive use of the Concurrency Workbench. The second tests understanding (e.g., of bisimulation); it is a mixture of exercises, and questions similar to those that may occur in exams.
If delivered in semester 1, this course will have an option for semester 1 only visiting undergraduate students, providing assessment prior to the end of the calendar year. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
*Modelling communication: media, agents, ports;
*Basic definitions; synchronisation; action and transition; the basic calculus;
*Transitional semantics; derivatives and derivation trees;
*Bisimulation; modal and temporal logic;
*Strong bisimulation and strong equivalence; experimenting upon agents; observation equivalence; equality of agents;
*Communication protocols; specification of systems with evolving structure;
*Model checking.
Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Concurrency and Parallelism; Distributed Computer Systems; Theoretical Computing; Programming Fundamentals |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
* ** R. Milner, Communication and Concurrency, Prentice-Hall 1989.
* ** C. Stirling, Modal and Temporal Properties of Processes, Springer Texts in Computer Science 2001.
* * C. Fencott, Formal Methods for Concurrency, International Thomson Computer Press 1996.
* * M. Hennessy, Algebraic Theory of Processes, MIT Press 1988 |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Lectures 20
Tutorials 0
Timetabled Laboratories 0
Non-timetabled assessed assignments 30
Private Study/Other 50
Total 100 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amos Storkey
Tel: (0131 6)51 1208
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Weston
Tel: (0131 6)50 2701
Email: |
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