A model-based framework encompassing a complete workflow from specification until validation of timing requirements in embedded software systems

Abstract

Embedded software engineering very often involves development of complex, mission critical software; wherein it is imperative that the developed software fulfills its requirements to achieve high quality. In such cases, there are several advantages of using specialized Requirements Management (RM) tools for managing the requirements. Critical timing requirements are among the foremost non-functional (quality) requirements to be fulfilled by increasingly complex embedded software. Further, a correct and effective timing behavior is among the characteristics of high-quality software. On the other hand, Model-Driven Development (MDD) is considered as the next paradigm shift to address the increasing complexity in embedded software development and to achieve high-quality standards. Similarly, there are specialized tools for validating and analyzing the timing behavior of the embedded software. However, such tools are used very late in the development process, when the actual timing errors occur. Thus, it is intuitive to perceive that an integrated model-based framework encompassing a complete workflow from specification until validation of timing requirements in embedded software systems is very beneficial for high-quality software development, nevertheless is still missing. Addressing the aforementioned gap, this paper proposes an approach toward a complete workflow for managing timing requirements in RM tools, specifying timing behavior in MDD tools and their validation in specialized tools for timing analyses. A prototype implementation of the proposed framework and its experimental evaluation are discussed.

Automatic Code Generation of Safety Mechanisms in Model-Driven Development

“…Beyond safety, MDD has been applied to generate other system properties in embedded systems. This includes a model-based framework for the entire workflow from specification to the validation of timing requirements in embedded systems [56]. Furthermore, other research has established model-based tool support for energy-aware scheduling [57,58].…”

Multi-formalism in Different Levels of Abstraction for Requirements Engineering and Architectural Design of Real-Time Embedded Systems

“…A variety of standards, formalisms, languages and approaches have been proposed in recent years to assist developers in managing software development activities and help them to deal with the inherent complexity of RTES [22], [23], [13], [24]. Model-Driven Systems Engineering (MDSE) approaches can contribute and facilitate RTES development, since it encompasses design strategies in order to develop, evolve, verify, formalize, configure and maintain embedded, real-time and distributed software [25], [26].…”

“…Architectural design and the artefacts that are derived from this process are vulnerable to erroneous choices in the early stages of RTES development [24]. Such choices may impact negatively on the development and deployment phases of RTES [38], [39], [37], [36].…”