A Testing Framework for P Systems

Abstract: Testing equivalence was originally defined by De Nicola and Hennessy in a process algebraic setting (CCS) with the aim of defining an equivalence relation between processes being less discriminating than bisimulation and with a natural interpretation in the practice of system development. Finite characterizations of the defined preorders and relations led to the possibility of verification by comparing an implementation with a specification in a setting where systems were seen as black boxes with input and output capabilities, thus neglecting internal undetectable behaviours. In this paper, we start defining a porting of the well-established testing theory into membrane computing, in order to investigate possible benefits in terms of inherited analysis/verification techniques and interesting biological applications. P Algebra, a process algebra for describing P Systems, is used as a natural candidate for the porting since it enjoys the desirable property of being compositional and comes with other observational equivalences already defined and studied.