Platform Modeling in Safety-Critical Embedded Systems

Abstract

This paper describes a model-based development process for safety-critical embedded real-time systems that are based on the DECOS integrated architecture. The DECOS architecture guides system engineers in the development of complex embedded real-time systems by providing a framework for integrating multiple application systems within a single distributed computer system. This integration is supported by a model-based development process which enables the reuse of application software on different instantiations of the DECOS platform, performing validation activities earlier in the development phase, and a reduced time-to-market in spite of increasing system functionality. For this purpose, model-based development in DECOS distinguishes between the capturing of the application functionality in a platform-independent model and the specification of the characteristics of the execution platform in the platform model. In this paper, we focus on the modeling of the execution platform and present a novel graphical model editor based on GME for specifying the DECOS execution platform. A platform meta-model expressed using UML and OCL constrains developers in such a way that the ensuing system becomes more dependable, maintainable and supports composability. Bibtex