English

Revisiting Parameter Synthesis for One-Counter Automata

Logic in Computer Science 2021-10-20 v6 Formal Languages and Automata Theory

Abstract

We study the (parameter) synthesis problem for one-counter automata with parameters. One-counter automata are obtained by extending classical finite-state automata with a counter whose value can range over non-negative integers and be tested for zero. The updates and tests applicable to the counter can further be made parametric by introducing a set of integer-valued variables called parameters. The synthesis problem for such automata asks whether there exists a valuation of the parameters such that all infinite runs of the automaton satisfy some omega-regular property. Lechner showed that (the complement of) the problem can be encoded in a restricted one-alternation fragment of Presburger arithmetic with divisibility. In this work (i) we argue that said fragment, called AERPADPLUS, is unfortunately undecidable. Nevertheless, by a careful re-encoding of the problem into a decidable restriction of AERPADPLUS, (ii) we prove that the synthesis problem is decidable in general and in N2EXP for several fixed omega-regular properties. Finally, (iii) we give a polynomial-space algorithm for the special case of the problem where parameters can only be used in tests, and not updates, of the counter.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2005.01071,
  title  = {Revisiting Parameter Synthesis for One-Counter Automata},
  author = {Guillermo A. Pérez and Ritam Raha},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.01071},
  year   = {2021}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T15:16:24.407Z