Axiomatic proof rules for a machine-specific microprogramming language

Abstract

In recent years, much effort has been devoted to the design and implementation of high level microprogramming languages. One of the goals for such languages is to facilitate the formal verification of microprograms using Hoare's inductive assertion method. Essential to the use of this method is an axiomatic definition of the microprogramming language.In this paper, we describe the axiomatization of the machine dependent microprogramming language S*(QM-1) [12]. This language is an instantiation of the machine independent language schema S* [3,4], for the Nanodata QM-1 "nanolevel" architecture. We show that, in spite of the complexity of the QM-1, with its variety of side-effects and special conditions, a small and uniform set of proof rules can be constructed.