Using Timed Model Checking for Verifying Workflows

The correctness of a workflow specification is critical for the automation of business processes. For this reason, errors in the specification should be detected and corrected as early as possible at specification time. In this paper, we present a validation method for workflow specifications using model-checking techniques. A formalized workflow specification, its properties and the correctness requirements are translated into a timed state machine that can be analyzed with the Uppaal model checker. The main contribution of this paper is the use of timed model checking for verifying time-related properties of workflow specifications. Using only one tool (the model checker) for verifying these different kinds of properties gives an advantage over using different specialized algorithms for verifying different kinds of properties.