CoNeCo: Concurrency, Networks and Coinduction

In recent years, concurrent Kleene algebra (CKA), an extension of Kleene Algebra (KA) that includes concurrent composition as a first-class citizen, has been proposed by Hoare et al. as a setting to study the algebraic properties of concurrent composition as an operator on programs.  Orthogonally, based on KA, Foster et al proposed NetKAT, a domain-specific language that can be used to program and verify policies of Software Defined Networks. in this talk, we will show how to develop a concurrent extension of NetKAT based on CKA, which supports expressing and verifying the concurrent filtering of packets — on the same network device, or possibly also distributed among different devices. This extension enables automated algebraic verification of properties that are relevant for (concurrent) packet processing in networks. This is joint work with Tobias Kappe and others, carried within the CoNeCo project (for more info, see the CoNeCo website).