Model-checking algorithms for continuous-time markov chains

Continuous-time Markov chains (CTMCs) have been widely used to determine system performance and dependability characteristics. Their analysis most often concerns the computation of steady-state and transient-state probabilities. This paper introduces a branching temporal logic for expressing real-time probabilistic properties on CTMCs and presents approximate model checking algorithms for this logic. The logic, an extension of the continuous stochastic logic CSL of Aziz et al. (1995, 2000), contains a time-bounded until operator to express probabilistic timing properties over paths as well as an operator to express steady-state probabilities. We show that the model checking problem for this logic reduces to a…