# source:Papers/jar-cerco-2017/introduction.tex@3636

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1\newcommand{\All}[1]{\forall{#1}.\;}
2\newcommand{\lam}[1]{\lambda{#1}.\;}
3
4% Introduction
5%   Problem being solved, background, etc.
6%   Current state of the art (and problem with it)
7%   The CerCo approach' (tm)
8%   Brief Matita overview
9%   Map of paper
10
11\section{Introduction}
12\label{sect.introduction}
13
14Programs are specified using both functional and non-functional constraints.
15Functional constraints dictate what tasks a program must do; non-functional constraints limit the resources the program may consume whilst completing those tasks.
16
17Depending on the application domain, non-functional constraints are as important as functional constraints when specifying a program.
18Real-time systems, with hard limits on application response times, implementations of cryptographic primitives, which must be hardened to timing side-channel attacks, and a heart pacemaker's embedded controller, which must fit inside a limited code memory space, are examples that fit this pattern.
19A cryptography library susceptible to a timing side-channel attack is not an annoyance---it's an implementation error that undermines the entire purpose of the library.
20
21A program's non-functional constraints may be given \emph{concretely}, or \emph{asymptotically}.
22Asymptotic complexity, as every Computer Science undergraduate knows, is important---but so too is concrete complexity for many applications, including the three we highlighted above as examples.
23A real-time system's response time is measured in seconds, milliseconds, or some other fundamental unit of time; a cryptographic library must have all execution paths execute in the same number of processor cycles, independent of any input passed by the client; and the size of an embedded controller for a pacemaker is measured in bits, bytes, or some other unit of computer memory capacity.
24In all cases, resource consumption is measured (and is specified) in some basal, concrete unit of measure.
25
26Currently, a program's functional properties can be established by combining user annotations---preconditions, invariants, and so on---with various automated and semi-automated analyses---invariant generators, type systems, abstract interpretations, applications of theorem proving, and so on---on the high-level source code of the program.
27Functional properties of a program are therefore established by reasoning about the source code that the application programmer actually sees and writes.
28Further, the results of any analysis can be communicated to the programmer in terms of abstractions, control flow, and an overall system design that they are familiar with.
29
30By contrast, a program's concrete, non-functional properties are established by reasoning on low-level object code produced not by a programmer, but by a compiler.
31Whilst analyses operating at this level can and do produce very accurate results---Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) analysis can be extraordinarily accurate, for example---analysis at such a low-level of abstraction invariably has disadvantages:
32\begin{itemize}
33\item
34It can be hard to deduce the high-level structure of the program after compiler optimisations.
35The object code produced by an optimising compiler may have a radically different control flow to the original source code program.
36\item
37Object code analysis is unstable.
38Modern compilers and linkers are highly non-compositional: they implement a variety of sophisticated optimisation passes, and use an abundance of procedural, intra-procedural, module-level, and link-time analyses to direct these optimisations.
39As a result, small changes in high-level source code can produce radically different object code outputs from a compiler, affecting any analysis tied to that object code.
40\item
41It is well understood by Software Engineers that problems with the design or implementation of a program are cheaper to resolve early in the development process. %cite
42Despite this, techniques that operate on object code are not useful early in the development process of a program, where programs may be incomplete, with missing functionality, or missing modules.
43\item
44Parametric cost analysis is very hard: how can we translate a cost that depends on the execution state, for example the value of a register or a carry bit, to a cost that the user can understand whilst looking at the source code?
45\item
46Performing functional analysis on object code makes it hard for the programmer to provide information about the program and its expected execution, leading to a loss of precision in the resulting analysis.
47It is hard for the programmer to understand the results of the analysis, or direct its execution, as high-level abstractions, control flow constructs, and so on, introduced by the programmer are translated away'.
48\end{itemize}
49
50More ideal would be a high-level analysis of concrete, non-functional properties, coupled with the accuracy one would expect of e.g. existing WCET analysers.
51This would lead to a reconciliation of functional and non-functional analyses.
52Information could be shared between the two analyses, and both could be performed concurrently on the same high-level source code.
53
54What has previously prevented high-level reasoning about non-functional properties is the lack of a uniform and precise cost model for programs written in programming languages, such as C.
55Since modern compilers---as discussed previously---may compile each expression and statement occurrence in radically different ways, optimisations may change control flow, and the cost of an object code instruction may depend on the runtime state of hardware components like pipelines and caches, none of which are visible in the source code, it has not been clear how one could go about defining such a cost model.
56
57In this paper, we report on the scientific and technical contributions of the Certified Complexity (CerCo') project, an EU-funded collaboration between the Universities of Bologna, Edinburgh, and Paris 7.
58
59We first present a uniform, precise cost model for a large fragment of the C programming language---\emph{CerCo C}, which is similar to early versions of \emph{CompCert C}.
60To define this cost model, we have developed a technical device, which we have dubbed \emph{the labelling approach}~\cite{labelling}, a technique to implement compilers that induce cost models on source programs by a very lightweight tracking of code changes through the compilation pipeline.
61
62To establish that our approach works, and scales beyond toy' languages to more realistic programming languages, we have implemented a compiler using this technique.
63The \emph{CerCo verified C compiler} compiles the CerCo C language fragment to object binaries for the MCS-51 8-bit embedded microcontroller.
64This is a well-known and still popular processor in the embedded systems community.
65Our compiler lifts a cost-model induced on machine code that it produces, back through the compilation chain, to the source-level.
66At the source level, this cost model is made manifest as parametric cost-annotations, inserted into the original source code file of the program being compiled.
67These annotations may be used by the programmer to predict concrete execution time and stack space usage.
68
69As we are targeting an embedded microcontroller we have not considered dynamic memory allocation.
70However, we believe that our labelling approach is general enough to handle resources other than execution time and stack space usage, including dynamic memory allocation.
71
72To demonstrate source-level verification of costs we have implemented a Frama-C plugin~\cite{framac} that invokes our compiler on a source program and uses it to generate invariants on the high-level source that correctly model low-level costs.
73The plugin certifies that the program respects these costs by calling automated theorem provers, an innovative and novel technique in the field of static analysis for non-functional properties.
74Using this plugin, we have conducted case studies, including showing that the plugin can automatically compute and certify the exact reaction time of Lustre~\cite{lustre} data flow programs compiled into C.
75
76The compiler is verified using the Matita interactive theorem prover, an implementation of the Calculus of Coinductive Constructions, developed at the University of Bologna.
77
78\paragraph{Vision.}
79
80
81We envision a new generation of compilers that track program structure through
82compilation and optimisation and exploit this information to define a precise,
83non-uniform cost model for source code that accounts for runtime state. With
84such a cost model we can perform non-functional verification in a similar way
85to functional verification and exploit the state of the art in automated
86high-level verification~\cite{survey}.
87
88The techniques currently used by the Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) community,
89which perform analysis on object code, are still applicable but can be coupled
90with additional source-level analysis. In cases where our approach produces
91overly complex cost models, safe approximations can be used to trade complexity
92for precision.
93
94Finally, source code analysis can be used early in the development process,
95when components have been specified but not implemented, as modularity means
96that it is enough to specify the non-functional behaviour of missing components.
97
98\subsection{Project context and approach}
99
100Formal methods for verifying functional properties of programs have now reached
101such a level of maturity and automation that their adoption is slowly
102increasing in production environments.
103
104For safety critical code, it is becoming commonplace to combine rigorous
105software engineering methodologies and testing with static analyses, taking the
106strengths of each and mitigating their weaknesses. Of particular interest are
107open frameworks for the combination of different formal methods, where the
108programs can be progressively specified and enriched with new safety
109guarantees: every method contributes knowledge (e.g. new invariants) that
110can be built upon by other analysis methods.
111
112The outlook for verification of non-functional properties of programs (time
113spent, memory used, energy consumed) is bleaker. In most cases, verifying that
114real-time systems meet their deadlines is done by simply performing many runs
115of the system and timing their execution, computing the maximum time and adding
116an empirical safety margin, claiming the result to be a bound for the WCET of
117the program.
118
119Formal methods and software to statically analyse the WCET of programs exist,
120but they often produce bounds that are too pessimistic to be useful. Recent
121advances in hardware architecture have focused on improving average case
122performance, not predictability of the worst case.
123
124Execution time is becoming increasingly dependent on execution history and the
125internal state of hardware components like pipelines and caches. Multi-core
126processors and non-uniform memory models are drastically reducing the
127possibility of performing static analysis in isolation, because programs are
128less and less time-composable. Clock-precise hardware models are necessary for
129static analysis, and obtaining them is becoming harder due to the increased
130sophistication of hardware design.
131
132The need for reliable real-time systems and programs is increasing, and there
133is pressure from the research community for the introduction of hardware with
134more predictable behaviour, which would be more suitable for static analysis.
135One example, being investigated by the Proartis project~\cite{proartis}, is to
136decouple execution time from execution history by introducing randomisation.
137
138In CerCo~\cite{cerco} we do not address this problem, optimistically assuming
139that improvements in low-level timing analysis or architecture will make
140verification feasible in the longer term.
141
142Instead, the main objective of our work is to bring together static analysis of
143functional and non-functional properties, which in the current state of the art
144are independent activities with limited exchange of information: while the
145functional properties are verified on the source code, the analysis of
146non-functional properties is performed on object code to exploit clock-precise
147hardware models.
148
149\subsection{Current object code methods}
150
151Analysis currently takes place on object code for two main reasons.
152
153Firstly, there cannot be a uniform, precise cost model for source code
154instructions (or even basic blocks). During compilation, high level
155instructions are broken up and reassembled in context-specific ways so that
156identifying a fragment of object code and a single high level instruction is
157unfeasible.
158
159Additionally, the control flow of the object and source code can be very
160different as a result of optimisations. For example, aggressive loop
161optimisations can completely transform source level loops.
162
163Despite the lack of a uniform, compilation- and program-independent cost model
164on the source language, research on the analysis of non-asymptotic execution
165time on high level languages assuming such a model is growing and gaining
166momentum.
167
168Unless such cost models are developed, the future practical impact of this
169research looks to be minimal. One existing approach is the EmBounded
170project~\cite{embounded}, which compositionally compiles high-level code to a
171byte code that is executed by an interpreter with guarantees on the maximal
172execution time spent for each byte code instruction. This provides a model
173that is uniform, though at the expense of precision (each cost is a pessimistic
174upper bound) and the performance of the executed code (the byte code is
175interpreted compositionally).
176
177The second reason to perform analysis on the object code is that bounding
178the worst case execution time of small code fragments in isolation (e.g. loop
179bodies) and then adding up the bounds yields very poor estimates as no
180knowledge of the hardware state prior to executing the fragment can be assumed.
181
182By analysing longer runs the bound obtained becomes more precise because the
183lack of information about the initial state has a relatively small impact.
184
185To calculate the cost of an execution, value and control flow analyses are
186required to bound the number of times each basic block is executed. Currently,
187state of the art WCET analysis tools, such as AbsInt's aiT
188toolset~\cite{absint}, perform these analyses on object code, where the logic
189of the program is harder to reconstruct and most information available at the
190source code level has been lost; see~\cite{stateart} for a survey.
191
192Imprecision in the analysis can lead to useless bounds. To augment precision,
193currently tools ask the user to provide constraints on the object code control
194flow, usually in the form of bounds on the number of iterations of loops or
195linear inequalities on them. This requires the user to manually link the source and object code, translating their assumptions on the source code (which may be
196wrong) to object code constraints. This task is hard and error-prone,
197especially in the presence of complex compiler optimisations.
198
199Traditional techniques for WCET that work on object code are also affected by
200another problem: they cannot be applied before the generation of the object
201code. Functional properties can be analysed in early development stages, while
202analysis of non-functional properties may come too late to avoid expensive
203changes to the program architecture.
204
205\subsection{The CerCo approach}
206
207In CerCo we propose a radically new approach to the problem: we reject the idea
208of a uniform cost model and we propose that the compiler, which knows how the
209code is translated, must return the cost model for basic blocks of high level
210instructions. It must do so by keeping track of the control flow modifications
211to reverse them and by interfacing with processor timing analysis.
212
213By embracing compilation, instead of avoiding it like EmBounded did, a CerCo
214compiler can both produce efficient code and return costs that are as precise
215as the processor timing analysis can be. Moreover, our costs can be parametric:
216the cost of a block can depend on actual program data, on a summary of the
217execution history, or on an approximated representation of the hardware state.
218
219For example, loop optimisations may assign a cost to a loop body that is a
220function of the number of iterations performed. As another example, the cost of
221a block may be a function of the vector of stalled pipeline states, which can
222be exposed in the source code and updated at each basic block exit.
223
224It is parametricity that allows one to analyse small code fragments without
225losing precision. In the analysis of the code fragment we do not have to ignore
226the initial hardware state; rather, we can assume that we know exactly which
227state (or mode, as the WCET literature calls it) we are in.
228
229The CerCo approach has the potential to dramatically improve the state of the
230art. By performing control and data flow analyses on the source code, the
231error-prone translation of invariants is avoided entirely. Instead, this work
232is done at the source code level using tools of the user's choice.
233
234Any available technique for the verification of functional properties can be
235easily reused and multiple techniques can collaborate to infer and certify cost
236invariants for the program. There are no limitations on the types of loops or
237data structures involved.
238
239Parametric cost analysis becomes the default, with non-parametric bounds used
240only as a last resort when the user decides to trade the complexity of the
241analysis for more precision.
242
243\emph{A priori}, no technique previously used in traditional WCET is obsolete:
244processor timing analysis can be used by the compiler on the object code, and
245other techniques can be applied at the source code level.
246
247Our approach also works in the early stages of development by allowing the user
248to axiomatically attach costs to unimplemented components.
249
250Software used to verify properties of programs must be as bug-free as possible.
251The trusted code base for verification consists of the code that needs to be
252trusted to believe that the property holds.
253
254The trusted code base of state-of-the-art WCET tools is very large: one needs
255to trust the control flow analyser, the linear programming libraries used, and
256also the formal models of the hardware under analysis.
257
258In CerCo we move the control flow analysis to the source code level, and we
259introduce a non-standard compiler. To reduce the size of the trusted code base,
260we have implemented a prototype compiler and static analyser in an interactive
261theorem prover, which was used to certify that the costs added to the source
262code are indeed those incurred by the hardware. We have also implemented formal models of the hardware and of the high level source language in the interactive
263theorem prover.
264
265Control flow analysis on the source code has been obtained using invariant
266generators, tools to produce proof obligations from generated invariants and
267automatic theorem provers to verify the obligations. If these tools are able to
268generate proof traces that can be independently checked, the only remaining
269component that enters the trusted code base is an off-the-shelf invariant
270generator which, in turn, can be proved correct using an interactive theorem
271prover.
272
273With these methods, we achieve the objective of allowing the use of more
274off-the-shelf components (e.g. provers and invariant generators) whilst
275reducing the trusted code base at the same time.
276
277\subsection{Introduction to Matita}
278
279Matita is a theorem prover based on a variant of the Calculus of Coinductive Constructions~\cite{asperti:user:2007}.
280The system features a full spectrum of dependent types and (co)inductive families, a system of coercions, a tactic-driven proof construction engine~\cite{sacerdoti-coen:tinycals:2007}, and paramodulation based automation~\cite{asperti:higher-order:2007}, all of which we exploit in the formalisation described herein.
281
282Matita's syntax is similar to the syntaxes of mainstream functional programming languages such as OCaml or Standard ML.
283The type theory that Matita implements is broadly akin to that of Coq~\cite{coq:2004} and Agda~\cite{bove:brief:2009}.
284Nevertheless, we provide a brief explanation of the main syntactic and type-theoretic features of Matita that will be needed to follow the body of the paper:
285\begin{itemize}
286\item
287Non-recursive functions and definitions are introduced via the \texttt{definition} keyword.
288Recursive functions are introduced with \texttt{let rec}.
289Mutually recursive functions are separated via the \texttt{and} keyword.
290Matita's termination checker ensures that all recursive functions are terminating before being admitted to maintain soundness of the system's logic.
291\item
292Matita has an infinite hierarchy of type universes.
293A single impredicative universe of types, \texttt{Prop}, exists at the base of this hierarchy.
294An infinite series of predicative universes, \texttt{Type[0]} : \texttt{Type[1]} : \texttt{Type[2]}, and so on and so forth, sits atop \texttt{Prop}.
295Matita, unlike Coq or Agda, implements no form of typical ambiguity or universe polymorphism, with explicit concrete universe levels being preferred instead.
296\item
297Matita's type theory plays host to a rich and expressive higher-order logic.
298Constants \texttt{True} and \texttt{False} represent truth and falsity in \texttt{Prop} respectively.
299Two inductive families in \texttt{Prop} encode conjunction and disjunction---$\mathtt{P \wedge Q}$ and $\mathtt{P \vee Q}$ respectively.
300
301As is usual, implication and universal quantification are identified with the dependent function space ($\Pi$ types), whereas (constructive) existential quantification is encoded as a dependent sum (a $\Sigma$-type).
302We write $\All{x : \phi}\psi$ for the dependent function space, and abbreviate this as $\phi \rightarrow \psi$ when $x \not\in fv(\psi)$ as usual.
303We use $\langle M,N \rangle$ for the pairing of $M$ and $N$.
304\item
305Inductive and coinductive families are introduced via the \texttt{inductive} and \texttt{coinductive} keywords respectively, with named constructor declarations separated by a bar.
306Mutually inductive data family declarations are separated via \texttt{with}.
307In the following declaration:
308\begin{lstlisting}[language=Grafite]
309inductive I ($P_1$ : $\tau_1$) $\ldots$ ($P_n$ : $\tau_n$) : $\phi_1 \rightarrow \ldots \rightarrow \phi_m \rightarrow \phi$ := $\ldots$
310\end{lstlisting}
311We call $P_i$ for $0 \leq i \leq n$ the \textbf{parameters} of \texttt{I} and $\phi_j$ for $0 \leq j \leq m$ the \textbf{indices} of \texttt{I}.
312Matita's positivity checker ensures that constructors have strictly-positive types before admitting an inductive family to maintain soundness of the system's logic.
313\item
314Records are introduced with the \texttt{record} keyword.
315A Matita record
316\begin{lstlisting}[language=Grafite]
317record R : Type[0] := { F1 : nat }.
318\end{lstlisting}
319may be thought of as syntactic sugar for a single-constructor inductive data type of the same name:
320\begin{lstlisting}[language=Grafite]
321inductive R : Type[0] :=
322  | mk_R : nat -> R.
323\end{lstlisting}
324A record field's type may depend on fields declared earlier in the record.
325
326Records may be decomposed with projections.
327Projections, one for each of field of a record, are registered in the global context.
328In the example record above, \texttt{F1} of type $R \rightarrow nat$ is registered as a field projection and $mk\_R$ of type $nat \rightarrow R$ is registered as a constructor.
329
330Record fields may also be marked as coercions.
331In the following example
332\begin{lstlisting}[language=Grafite]
333record S : Type[1] :=
334{
335  Carrier :> Type[0];
336  op : Carrier -> Carrier -> Carrier
337}
338\end{lstlisting}
339the field \texttt{Carrier} is declared to be a coercion with \texttt{:>}'.with the operational effect being that the field projection \texttt{Carrier} may be omitted where it could be successfully inferred by Matita.
340Field coercions facilitate the informal but common mathematical practice of intentionally confusing a structure with its underlying carrier set.
341\item
342Terms may be freely omitted, allowing the user to write down partial types and terms.
343A question mark, \texttt{?}, denotes a single term that has been omitted by the user.
344Some omitted terms can be deduced by Matita's refinement system.
345Other, more complex goals arising from omitted terms may require user input to solve, in which case a proof obligation is opened for each term that cannot be deduced automatically.
346Three consecutive dots, \texttt{$\ldots$}, denote multiple terms or types that have been omitted.
347\item
348Data may be decomposed by pattern matching with a \texttt{match} expression.
349We may fully annotate a \texttt{match} expression with its return type.
350This is especially useful when working with indexed families of types or with invariants, expressed as types, on functions.
351In the following
352\begin{lstlisting}[language=Grafite]
353match t return $\lam{x}x = 0 \rightarrow bool$ with
354[ 0    $\Rightarrow$ $\lam{prf_1}P_1$
355| S m $\Rightarrow$ $\lam{prf_2}P_2$
356] (refl $\ldots$ t)
357\end{lstlisting}
358the \texttt{0} branch of the \texttt{match} expression returns a function from $0 = 0$ to \texttt{bool}, whereas the \texttt{S m} branch of the \texttt{match} expression returns a function from \texttt{S m = 0} to \texttt{bool}.
359In both cases the annotated return type $\lam{x}x = 0 \rightarrow bool$ has been specialised given new information about \texttt{t} revealed by the act of pattern matching.
360The entire term, with \texttt{match} expression applied to \texttt{refl $\ldots$ t}, has type \texttt{bool}.
361\item
362Matita features a liberal system of coercions (distinct from the previously mentioned record field coercions).
363It is possible to define a uniform coercion $\lam{x}\langle x, ?\rangle$ from every type $T$ to the dependent product $\Sigma{x : T}. P x$.
364The coercion opens a proof obligation that asks the user to prove that $P$ holds for $x$.
365When a coercion is to be applied to a complex term (for example, a $\lambda$-abstraction, a local definition, or a case analysis), the system automatically propagates the coercion to the sub-terms.
366For instance, to apply a coercion to force $\lam{x}M : A \rightarrow B$ to
367have type $\All{x : A}\Sigma{y : B}. P x y$, the system looks for a coercion from $M : B$ to $\Sigma{y : B}. P x y$ in a context augmented with $x : A$.
368This is significant when the coercion opens a proof obligation, as the user will be presented with multiple, but simpler proof obligations in the correct context.
369In this way, Matita supports the Russell' proof methodology developed by Sozeau in~\cite{sozeau:subset:2007}, in a lightweight but tightly-integrated manner.
370\end{itemize}
371Throughout, for reasons of clarity, conciseness, and readability, we may choose to simplify or omit parts of Matita code.
372We will always ensure that these omissions do not mislead the reader.
373
374\subsection{Map of the paper}
375
376The rest of the paper is structured as follows.
377
378In section~\ref{sect.compiler.architecture}, we describe the architecture of the
379CerCo compiler, as well as the intermediate languages that it uses. We also
380describe the target hardware and its formal model.
381
382In section~\ref{sect.compiler.proof}, we describe the proof of correctness of
383the compiler in more detail. We explain our use of structured traces, the
384labelling approach, and discuss the assembler.
385
386In section~\ref{sect.formal.development}, we present data on the formal
387development.
388
389In section~\ref{sect.framac.plugin}, we discuss the Frama-C plugin, as well as
390some of the case studies we have performed to validate it.
391
392Finally, in section~\ref{sect.conclusions} we present conclusions, as well as
393related and future work.
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