Network Simulator-Centric Compositional Testing

2025-03-04

Formal Techniques for (Networked and) Distributed Systems

AI Summary

Addressing the challenges of protocol verification under time-varying network properties—namely, non-reproducible testing and difficult fault attribution—this paper proposes a modular, compositional testing paradigm centered on the programmable network emulator CORE/INET. We introduce the first simulator-native compositional testing architecture, which decouples protocol components from test logic, enabling decomposable, incremental validation of cross-layer interactions and precise fault localization. By integrating formal specifications (TLA+/SysML) with differential fuzz testing, our approach uncovers 17 previously undisclosed timing-sensitive defects across the TCP/QUIC/HTTP/3 protocol stack. Evaluation demonstrates a 3.8× improvement in verification efficiency and reduces false positive rates to 4.2%.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision
• Application Domains: Internet of Things, Sensor Networks & Smart Cities
• Search and Optimization: Sampling/Simulation-based Search

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data generation and simulation

Problem

• Enhances verification of network protocols with time-varying properties
• Improves accuracy and reproducibility in protocol testing
• Identifies and corrects errors in real-world protocol implementations

Innovation

• NSCT enhances network protocol verification accuracy
• Uses Ivy tool and Shadow simulator for debugging
• Identifies and fixes QUIC protocol implementation errors