  In this paper we present a unifying approach for deciding various
bisimulations, simulation equivalences and preorders between two timed automata
states. We propose a zone based method for deciding these relations in which we
eliminate an explicit product construction of the region graphs or the zone
graphs as in the classical methods. Our method is also generic and can be used
to decide several timed relations. We also present a game characterization for
these timed relations and show that the game hierarchy reflects the hierarchy
of the timed relations. One can obtain an infinite game hierarchy and thus the
game characterization further indicates the possibility of defining new timed
relations which have not been studied yet. The game characterization also helps
us to come up with a formula which encodes the separation between two states
that are not timed bisimilar. Such distinguishing formulae can also be
generated for many relations other than timed bisimilarity.
