5,495 research outputs found
Model checking embedded system designs
We survey the basic principles behind the application of model checking to controller verification and synthesis. A promising development is the area of guided model checking, in which the state space search strategy of the model checking algorithm can be influenced to visit more interesting sets of states first. In particular, we discuss how model checking can be combined with heuristic cost functions to guide search strategies. Finally, we list a number of current research developments, especially in the area of reachability analysis for optimal control and related issues
PLACES'10: The 3rd Workshop on Programmng Language Approaches to concurrency and Communication-Centric Software
Paphos, Cyprus. March 201
Towards formal models and languages for verifiable Multi-Robot Systems
Incorrect operations of a Multi-Robot System (MRS) may not only lead to
unsatisfactory results, but can also cause economic losses and threats to
safety. These threats may not always be apparent, since they may arise as
unforeseen consequences of the interactions between elements of the system.
This call for tools and techniques that can help in providing guarantees about
MRSs behaviour. We think that, whenever possible, these guarantees should be
backed up by formal proofs to complement traditional approaches based on
testing and simulation.
We believe that tailored linguistic support to specify MRSs is a major step
towards this goal. In particular, reducing the gap between typical features of
an MRS and the level of abstraction of the linguistic primitives would simplify
both the specification of these systems and the verification of their
properties. In this work, we review different agent-oriented languages and
their features; we then consider a selection of case studies of interest and
implement them useing the surveyed languages. We also evaluate and compare
effectiveness of the proposed solution, considering, in particular, easiness of
expressing non-trivial behaviour.Comment: Changed formattin
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Using formal methods to support testing
Formal methods and testing are two important approaches that assist in the development of high quality software. While traditionally these approaches have been seen as rivals, in recent
years a new consensus has developed in which they are seen as complementary. This article reviews the state of the art regarding ways in which the presence of a formal specification can be used to assist testing
A virtual factory for smart city service integration
Tese de Doutoramento em Informática (MAP-i)In the context of smart cities, governments are investing efforts on creating public
value through the development of digital public services (DPS) focusing on specific
policy areas, such as transport. Main motivations to deliver DPS include reducing
administrative burdens and costs, increasing effectiveness and efficiency of government
processes, and improving citizens’ quality of life through enhanced services and simplified
interactions with governments.
To ensure effective planning and design of DPS in a given domain, governments face
several challenges, like the need of specialized tools to facilitate the effective planning
and the rapid development of DPS, as well as, tools for service integration, affording
high development costs, and ensuring DPS conform with laws and regulations.
These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that many public administrations develop
tailored DPS, disregarding the fact that services share common functionality
and business processes.
To address the above challenges, this thesis focuses on leveraging the similarities of
DPS and on applying a Software Product Line (SPL) approach combined with formal
methods techniques for specifying service models and verifying their behavioural properties.
In particular, the proposed solution introduces the concept of a virtual factory
for the planning and rapid development of DPS in a given smart city domain. The
virtual factory comprises a framework including software tools, guidelines, practices,
models, and other artefacts to assist engineers to automate and make more efficient
the development of a family of DPS.
In this work the virtual factory is populated with tools for government officials and
software developers to plan and design smart mobility services, and to rapidly model
DPS relying on SPLs and components-base development techniques.
Specific contributions of the thesis include: 1) the concept of virtual factory; 2)
a taxonomy for planning and designing smart mobility services; 3) an ontology to fix
a common vocabulary for a specific family of DPS; 4) a compositional formalism to
model SPLs, to serve as a specification language for DPS; and 5) a variable semantics
for a coordination language to simplify coordination of services in the context of SPLs.No contexto das cidades inteligentes, os governos investem esforços na criação de valor
público através do desenvolvimento de serviços públicos digitais (DPS), concentrandose
em áreas políticas específicas, como os transportes. As principais motivações para
entregar o DPS incluem a redução de custos administrativos, o aumento da eficácia
dos processos do governo e a melhoria da qualidade de vida dos cidadãos através de
serviços melhorados e interações simplificadas com os governos.
Para garantir um planeamento efetivo do DPS num determinado domínio, os governos
enfrentam vários desafios, como a necessidade de ferramentas especializadas para
facilitar o planeamento eficaz e o rápido desenvolvimento do DPS, bem como ferramentas
para integração de DPS, reduzindo altos custos de desenvolvimento e garantindo
que os DPS estejam em conformidade com as leis e regulamentos.
Esses desafios são exacerbados pelo fato de que muitas administrações públicas
desenvolvem o DPS sob medida, desconsiderando o fato de que os serviços compartilham
funcionalidade e processos de negócios comuns.
Para enfrentar os desafios, esta tese concentra-se em aproveitar as semelhanças dos
DPS aplicando uma abordagem de Software Product Lines (SPL) combinada com métodos
formais para especificar modelos de DPS e verificar propriedades. Em particular,
introduz o conceito de uma fábrica virtual (VF) para o planeamento e desenvolvimento
rápido de DPS num domínio de cidade inteligente. A VF compreende ferramentas de
software, diretrizes, modelos e outros artefatos para auxiliar os engenheiros a automatizar
e tornar mais eficiente o desenvolvimento de uma família de DPS.
Neste trabalho, a VF é preenchida com ferramentas para várias partes para planear
e projetar serviços de mobilidade inteligente (MI), e modelar rapidamente o DPS com
base em SPLs e técnicas de desenvolvimento baseadas em componentes.
Contribuições específicas da tese incluem: 1) o conceito de VF; 2) uma taxonomia
para planear serviços de MI; 3) uma ontologia para fixar um vocabulário comum para
uma família específica de DPS; 4) um formalismo composicional para modelar SPLs,
e servir como uma linguagem de especificação para DPS; e 5) uma semântica variável
para uma linguagem de coordenação para simplificar a coordenação.This work was funded by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, through the Operational Programme for Human Capital (POCH). Grant reference: PD/BD/52238/201
Language Design for Reactive Systems: On Modal Models, Time, and Object Orientation in Lingua Franca and SCCharts
Reactive systems play a crucial role in the embedded domain. They continuously interact with their environment, handle concurrent operations, and are commonly expected to provide deterministic behavior to enable application in safety-critical systems. In this context, language design is a key aspect, since carefully tailored language constructs can aid in addressing the challenges faced in this domain, as illustrated by the various concurrency models that prevent the known pitfalls of regular threads. Today, many languages exist in this domain and often provide unique characteristics that make them specifically fit for certain use cases. This thesis evolves around two distinctive languages: the actor-oriented polyglot coordination language Lingua Franca and the synchronous statecharts dialect SCCharts. While they take different approaches in providing reactive modeling capabilities, they share clear similarities in their semantics and complement each other in design principles. This thesis analyzes and compares key design aspects in the context of these two languages. For three particularly relevant concepts, it provides and evaluates lean and seamless language extensions that are carefully aligned with the fundamental principles of the underlying language. Specifically, Lingua Franca is extended toward coordinating modal behavior, while SCCharts receives a timed automaton notation with an efficient execution model using dynamic ticks and an extension toward the object-oriented modeling paradigm
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Software engineering: Testing real-time embedded systems using timed automata based approaches
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Real-time Embedded Systems (RTESs) have an increasing role in controlling society infrastructures that we use on a day-to-day basis. RTES behaviour is not based solely on the interactions it might have with its surrounding environment, but also on the timing requirements it induces. As a result, ensuring that an RTES behaves correctly is non-trivial, especially after adding time as a new dimension to the complexity of the testing process. This research addresses the problem of testing RTESs from Timed Automata (TA) specification by the following. First, a new Priority-based Approach (PA) for testing RTES modelled formally as UPPAAL timed automata (TA variant) is introduced. Test cases generated according to a proposed timed adequacy criterion (clock region coverage) are divided into three sets of priorities, namely boundary, out-boundary and in-boundary. The selection of which set is most appropriate for a System Under Test (SUT) can be decided by the tester according to the system type, time specified for the testing process and its budget. Second, PA is validated in comparison with four well-known timed testing approaches based on TA using Specification Mutation Analysis (SMA). To enable the validation, a set of timed and functional mutation operators based on TA is introduced. Three case studies are used to run SMA. The effectiveness of timed testing approaches are determined and contrasted according to the mutation score which shows that our PA achieves high mutation adequacy score compared with others. Third, to enhance the applicability of PA, a new testing tool (GeTeX) that deploys PA is introduced. In its current version, GeTeX supports Control Area Network (CAN) applications. GeTeX is validated by developing a prototype for that purpose. Using GeTeX, PA is also empirically validated in comparison with some TA testing approaches using a complete industrial-strength test bed. The assessment is based on fault coverage, structural coverage, the length of generated test cases and a proposed assessment factor. The assessment is based on fault coverage, structural coverage, the length of generated test cases and a proposed assessment factor. The assessment results confirmed the superiority of PA over the other test approaches. The overall assessment factor showed that structural and fault coverage scores of PA with respect to the length of its tests were better than the others proving the applicability of PA. Finally, an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) decision-making framework for our PA is developed. The framework can provide testers with a systematic approach by which they can prioritise the available PA test sets that best fulfils their testing requirements. The AHP framework developed is based on the data collected heuristically from the test bed and data collected by interviewing testing experts. The framework is then validated using two testing scenarios. The decision outcomes of the AHP framework were significantly correlated to those of testing experts which demonstrated the soundness and validity of the framework.This study is funded by Damascus University, Syri
On Consistency and Network Latency in Distributed Interactive Applications: A Survey—Part I
This paper is the first part of a two-part paper that documents a detailed survey
of the research carried out on consistency and latency in distributed interactive applications
(DIAs) in recent decades. Part I reviews the terminology associated with DIAs and offers
definitions for consistency and latency. Related issues such as jitter and fidelity are also
discussed. Furthermore, the various consistency maintenance mechanisms that researchers
have used to improve consistency and reduce latency effects are considered. These
mechanisms are grouped into one of three categories, namely time management,
Information management and system architectural management. This paper presents the
techniques associated with the time management category. Examples of such mechanisms
include time warp, lock step synchronisation and predictive time management. The
remaining two categories are presented in part two of the survey
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