Model-Driven Development of Real-Time Systems with UML 2.0 and C

Abstract

In this era of intense liking to automation in almost all time-critical fields, real-time systems have got widespread utilization in industrial, commercial, medical, space and military applications. Modeldriven development of real-time systems has been a task requiring great effort because of the system complexities arising from dealing with quite a huge number of input and output streams within an acute time frame. Complexity exists both in the modeling task as well as in transforming the models into programming language code. Most real-time systems are embedded systems and because of the memory and execution time constraints, they use procedural programming language like C for their platform environment. On the other hand the MDA, an OMG standard Model Driven Development approach, uses an MOF compliant language like UML for the modeling task and the transformation between UML and C is not straight-forward. In this paper we present how the MDA approach can be applied to the development of real-time systems. UML 2.0 is used for modeling and C is used as the target programming language.

Design verification in model-based μ-controller development using an abstract component

“…First, the containment hierarchy is simplified according to the technical restrictions of the implementation technology used, i.e., by refining the containment hierarchy and mapping it to a UML model with the source code structure of the resulting system. Second, the models are mapped to source code, either through a code generator, or through manual mapping according to mapping guidelines as published in Khan et al [34]. Figure 13 shows an example code snippet for a servo component.…”

Applying a Model-based Approach for Embedded System Development

“…Although a step in the right direction, they often do not use the enhanced features of UML 2.0, nor do they address complexity and reuse issues. Another problem is the inadequate support for mapping UML (2.0) models to code [15]. Developers follow traditional approaches, and a complete transition to object-or component technology is prevented by the required time and space efficiency of the product, or due to standards to be followed (e.g., DO-178B in the civil aviation domain).…”

“…Developers follow traditional approaches, and a complete transition to object-or component technology is prevented by the required time and space efficiency of the product, or due to standards to be followed (e.g., DO-178B in the civil aviation domain). Embedded system development would benefit from the advantages of model-driven development (MDD) [15] if the technologies could be integrated into existing development processes (i.e., keep C as target language). Most approaches and tools map models to sophisticated languages (e.g., Java, resulting in runtime performance, memory, or timing problems [15]), or use straightforward mapping strategies (UML to C) that neglect concepts such as inheritance or dynamic binding.…”

“…• Q3: How were models transferred to source code? Developers typically follow the traditional procedural paradigm (i.e., C) that impedes the transformation of UML concepts into C [15].…”

“…That is through refining the containment hierarchy and mapping it to a UML model with the source code structure of the resulting system (shown in Figure 5b). Second, the models are mapped to source code, either through a code generator, or through manual mapping according to [15]. Figure 6 shows an example code snippet for a servo component.…”