Abstract
An approach to analyzing self-stabilization based on the finite-state machine model is presented. A finite-state machine is used to model the behavior of each node in a distributed system. when the self-stabilizing algorithms are applied. The approach is useful for analyzing the correctness of self-stabilizing algorithms and their time complexity. A self-stabilizing algorithm for finding maximal matching is used as an example to show how the finite-state machine model is applied. A simpler proof for the correctness and an upper bound of the time complexity tighter than the one proved by a variant function are attained.