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Using Automata Learning for Compliance Evaluation of Communication Protocols on an NFC Handshake Example

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Engineering of Computer-Based Systems (ECBS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14390))

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Abstract

Near-Field Communication (NFC) is a widely adopted standard for embedded low-power devices in very close proximity. In order to ensure a correct system, it has to comply to the ISO/IEC 14443 standard. This paper concentrates on the low-level part of the protocol (ISO/IEC 14443-3) and presents a method and a practical implementation that complements traditional conformance testing. We infer a Mealy state machine of the system-under-test using active automata learning. This automaton is checked for bisimulation with a specification automaton modelled after the standard, which provides a strong verdict of conformance or non-conformance. As a by-product, we share some observations of the performance of different learning algorithms and calibrations in the specific setting of ISO/IEC 14443-3, which is the difficulty to learn models of system that a) consist of two very similar structures and b) very frequently give no answer (i.e. a timeout as an output).

This research received funding within the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 876038 (project InSecTT) and from the program “ICT of the Future” of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology under grant agreement No. 880852 (project LEARNTWINS). The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Austria, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Slovenia, Poland, Netherlands, Turkey. The document reflects only the author’s view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AVL List Gmbh, Graz, Austria

    Stefan Marksteiner

  2. Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden

    Stefan Marksteiner, Marjan Sirjani & Mikael Sjödin

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  1. Stefan Marksteiner
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  2. Marjan Sirjani
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  3. Mikael Sjödin
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Correspondence to Stefan Marksteiner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Charles University, Praha, Czech Republic

    Jan Kofroň

  2. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Tiziana Margaria

  3. Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden

    Cristina Seceleanu

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Marksteiner, S., Sirjani, M., Sjödin, M. (2024). Using Automata Learning for Compliance Evaluation of Communication Protocols on an NFC Handshake Example. In: Kofroň, J., Margaria, T., Seceleanu, C. (eds) Engineering of Computer-Based Systems. ECBS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14390. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49252-5_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49252-5_13

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49251-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49252-5

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