Spi calculus translated to /spl pi/-calculus preserving may-tests

Abstract

We present a concise and natural encoding of the spi-calculus into the more basic /spl pi/-calculus and establish its correctness with respect to a formal notion of testing. This is particularly relevant for security protocols modelled in spi since the tests can be viewed as adversaries. The translation has been implemented in a prototype tool. As a consequence, protocols can be described in the spi calculus and analysed with the emerging flora of tools already available for /spl pi/. The translation also entails a more detailed operational understanding of spi since high level constructs like encryption are encoded in a well known lower level. The formal correctness proof is nontrivial and interesting in its own; so called context bisimulations and new techniques for compositionality make the proof simpler and more concise.