Assessing the functional feasibility of variability-intensive data flow-oriented systems

Abstract

Data-flow oriented embedded systems, such as automotive systems used to render HMI (e.g., instrument clusters, infotainments), are increasingly built from highly variable specifications while targeting different constrained hardware platforms configurable in a finegrained way. These variabilities at two different levels lead to a huge number of possible embedded system solutions, which feasibility is extremely complex and tedious to predetermine. In this paper, we propose a tooled approach that capture high level specifications as variable dataflows, and targeted platforms as variable component models. Dataflows can then be mapped onto platforms to express a specification of such variability-intensive systems. The proposed tool support transforms this specification into structural and behavioral variability models and reuses automated reasoning techniques to explore and assess the feasibility of all variants in a single run. We also report on the application of the proposed approach to an industrial case study of automotive instrument cluster. CCS CONCEPTS• General and reference → Design; Validation; • Computer systems organization → Embedded systems; • Software and its engineering → Software product lines; • Theory of computation → Verification by model checking; KEYWORDSEmbedded system design engineering; variability modeling; feature model; behavioral product lines model checking.

Multifaceted Automated Analyses for Variability-Intensive Embedded Systems

“…Behavioural analyses of variable systems were addressed by variability-aware model checking against functional requirements (challenge FCB) [20]- [23] or one particular nonfunctional aspect (e.g. real time [24]- [26], reliability [27], [28], income [19], quality of service [29]).…”

“…Contrarily to our solution, they do not find a design (i.e., a mapping of a functional variant onto a platform configuration) that ensures an optimal execution. Our recent work [23] can capture and reason on variability at all three levels. It is, however, limited to functional requirements (challenges FCS and FCB).…”

“…To model the application, the platform and their quality attributes, we extend our former modelling framework [23] to support NF requirements, as it is limited to checking designs that satisfy the FC requirements. Thus, we define formal models for variable dataflows and configurable platforms.…”

“…Data automata implement the process of sending the data onto a task automaton, which itself transmits the data to the automaton of the processor that provides the function whereon the task is mapped. The automaton of a processor models standard processing pipeline behaviour [23]. During this processing, the processor can store input and output data by transferring them to its dedicated storage automaton.…”

Towards Sampling and Simulation-Based Analysis of Featured Weighted Automata

“…Past research has relied on variability-aware formalism to represent and verify the behaviour of VIS efficiently [2]- [9]. In particular, Featured Weighted Automata (FWA) [10] is a recent formalism able to (i) express system behaviour as a set of execution traces (i.e.…”