ESEC/FSE 2018 (series) / Journal-First /
Inferring Extended Probabilistic Finite State Automaton Models from Software Executions
Behavioral models are useful tools in understanding how programs work. Although several inference approaches have been introduced to generate extended finite-state automatons from software execution traces, they suffer from accuracy, flexibility, and decidability issues. In this article, we apply a hybrid technique to use both reinforcement learning and stochastic modeling to generate an extended probabilistic finite state automaton from software traces. Our approach—ReHMM (Reinforcement learning-based Hidden Markov Modelling)—is able to address the problems of inflexibility and un-decidability reported in other state-of-the-art approaches. Experimental results indicate that ReHMM outperforms other inference algorithms.