Axini develops tools for model based testing (MBT) and model based software engineering (MBSE). Model based testing is a software testing approach in which test cases are automatically generated and executed from a model, a formal specification of the system under test. This approach allows for a high degree of test automation and more thorough testing.
Our model based testing approach is very well suited for modeling and testing communication protocols. A new application of MBT is testing communication protocols found in Internet of Things devices, for example the Zigbee protocol.
Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios. There are several interesting systems that we can use to test, especially in the home automation (domotica) area. For example, automated door locks, automated control of lighting, heating etc.
Because the Zigbee standard and its products are quite new, we see many problems. There are problems with security, non-conformance to the standard, and interoperability problems. Especially the latter are interesting to model and test.
Possible research questions
There are several puzzles and research questions that students can work on.
Recent work
Recent work at Axini on this topic:
- Marko Milardic (2022) tested the interoperability between two Bluetooth devices.
- Xavier van Dommelen (2021) applied MBT to the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and demonstrated that we can find both flaws in the official BLE specifications and conformance mistakes in a certified BLE system.