Future testing methods using SDL

This paper is concerned with the production of conformance test specifications for testing implementations of protocols which have been formally specified. It highlights the advantages which formal specifications can bring to conformance testing. Conformance testing of protocol implementations is an important stage in ensuring that they are in accordance with the protocol specification. An essential prerequisite for enabling high-quality conformance testing is an accurate and well-directed set of test specifications. The paper describes three techniques that are being developed for deriving conformance test specifications from protocol specifications. In particular it focuses on the CCITT language SDL, which is being used increasingly to specify network protocols