On the expressiveness and complexity of randomization in finite state monitors

In this article, we introduce the model of finite state probabilistic monitors (FPM), which are finite state automata on infinite strings that have probabilistic transitions and an absorbing reject state. FPMs are a natural automata model that can be seen as either randomized run-time monitoring algorithms or as models of open, probabilistic reactive systems that can fail. We give a number of results that characterize, topologically as well as with respect to their computational power, the sets of languages recognized by FPMs. We also study the emptiness and universality problems for such automata and give exact complexity bounds for these problems.