Equivalence checking of Petri net models of programs using static and dynamic cut-points

Extensive optimizing and parallelizing transformations are carried out on programs, both by (untrusted) compilers and human experts, before deploying them on some platform architecture which is by and large parallel. It is therefore important to devise some suitable modelling paradigm which is capable of capturing parallelism in such a way that proving equivalence of the source programs and their transformed versions becomes easier. In the present work, an untimed Petri net model with data constraints, called CPN model (Coloured Petri net), is used to model the parallel behaviours. Being value based, such models depict more vividly the data dependencies which lie at the core of such transformations; accordingly, they are likely to provide more suitable internal representations (IRs) of both the source and the transformed programs than the IRs like sequential control flow graphs (CFGs). A path based equivalence checking method for CPN models with rigorous treatment of the complexity and correctness issues have been presented. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the approach.