Source-to-source architecture transformation for performance optimization in BIP

Behavior, Interaction, Priorities (BIP) is a component framework for constructing systems from a set of atomic components by using two kinds of composition operators: interactions and priorities. In this paper, we present a method that transforms the interactions of a component-based program in BIP and generates a functionally equivalent program. The method is based on the successive application of three types of source-to-source transformations: flattening of components, flattening of connectors, and composition of atomic components. We show that the system of the transformations is confluent and terminates. By exhaustive application of the transformations, any BIP component can be transformed into an equivalent monolithic component. From this component, efficient standalone C++ code can be generated. The method combines advantages of component-based description such as clarity, incremental construction, and reasoning with the possibility to generate efficient monolithic code. It has been integrated in the design methodology for BIP and it has been successfully applied to two non trivial examples described in this paper. © 2010 IEEE

Source-to-source architecture transformation for performance optimization in BIP

BIP (Behavior, Interaction, Priorities) is a component framework for constructing systems from a set of atomic components by using two kinds of composition operators: interactions and priorities.In this paper we present a method that transforms the interactions of a component-based program in BIP and generates a functionally equivalent program.The method is based on the successive application of three types of source-to-source transformations: flattening of components, flattening of connectors and composition of atomic components.We show that the system of the transformations is confluent and terminates.By exhaustive application of the transformations, any BIP component can be transformed into an equivalent monolithic component.From this component, efficient C code can be generated.The method combines advantages of component-based description such as clarity, incremental construction and reasoning with the possibility to generate efficient monolithic code.It has been integrated in the design methodology for BIP and it has been successfully applied to two non trivial examples described in the paper.© 2009 IEEE

Extended Connectors: Structuring Glue Operators in BIP

Based on a variation of the BIP operational semantics using the offer predicate introduced in our previous work, we extend the algebras used to model glue operators in BIP to encompass priorities. This extension uses the Algebra of Causal Interaction Trees, T(P), as a pivot: existing transformations automatically provide the extensions for the Algebra of Connectors. We then extend the axiomatisation of T(P), since the equivalence induced by the new operational semantics is weaker than that induced by the interaction semantics. This extension leads to canonical normal forms for all structures and to a simplification of the algorithm for the synthesis of connectors from Boolean coordination constraints.Comment: In Proceedings ICE 2013, arXiv:1310.401

Evaluating Component Assembly Specialization for 3D FFT

The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is a widely-used building block for many high-performance scienti c applications. Ef- cient computing of FFT is paramount for the performance of these applications. This has led to many e orts to implement machine and computation speci c optimizations. However, no existing FFT library is capable of easily integrating and au- tomating the selection of new and/or unique optimizations. To ease FFT specialization, this paper evaluates the use of component-based software engineering, a programming paradigm which consists in building applications by assembling small software units. Component models are known to have many software engineering bene ts but usually have insucient performance for high-performance scienti c applications. This paper uses the L2C model, a general purpose high-performance component model, and studies its performance and adaptation capabilities on 3D FFTs. Experiments show that L2C, and components in general, enables easy handling of 3D FFT specializations while obtaining performance comparable to that of well-known libraries. However, a higher-level component model is needed to automatically generate an adequate L2C assembly

Modeling synchronous systems in BIP

We present a general approach for modeling synchronous component-based systems. These are systems of synchronous components strongly synchronized by a common action that initiates steps of each component. We propose a general model for synchronous systems. Steps are described by acyclic Petri nets equipped with data and priorities. Petri nets are used to model concurrent flow of computation. Priorities are instrumental for enforcing run-to-completion in the execution of a step. We study a class of well-triggered synchronous systems which are by construction deadlock-free and their computation within a step is confluent. For this class, the behavior of components is modeled by modal flow graphs. These are acyclic graphs representing three different types of dependency between two events p and q: strong dependency (p must follow q), weak dependency (p may follow q), conditional dependency (if both p and q occur then p must follow q). We propose a translation of Lustre into well-triggered synchronous systems. This translation is modular and exhibits not only data-flow connections between nodes but also their synchronization by using clocks. Copyright 2009 ACM

Model-based implementation of real-time applications

Correct and efficient implementation of general real-time applications remains by far an open problem. A key issue is meeting timing constraints whose satisfaction depends on features of the execution platform, in particular its speed. Existing rigorous implementation techniques are applicable to specific classes of systems e.g. with periodic tasks, time deterministic systems. We present a general model-based implementation method for real-time systems based on the use of two models. &bull An abstract model representing the behavior of real-time software as a timed automaton. The latter describes user-defined platform-independent timing constraints. Its transitions are timeless and correspond to the execution of statements of the real-time software. &bull A physical model representing the behavior of the real-time software running on a given platform. It is obtained by assigning execution times to the transitions of the abstract model. A necessary condition for implementability is time-safety, that is, any (timed) execution sequence of the physical model is also an execution sequence of the abstract model. Time-safety simply means that the platform is fast enough to meet the timing requirements. As execution times of actions are not known exactly, time-safety is checked for worst-case execution times of actions by making an assumption of time-robustness: time-safety is preserved when speed of the execution platform increases. We show that as a rule, physical models are not time-robust and show that time-determinism is a sufficient condition for time-robustness. For given real-time software and execution platform corresponding to a time-robust model, we define an Execution Engine that coordinates the execution of the application software so as to meet its timing constraints. Furthermore, in case of non-robustness, the Execution Engine can detect violations of time-safety and stop execution

A Theory Agenda for Component-Based Design

The aim of the paper is to present a theory agenda for component-based design based on results that motivated the development of the BIP component framework, to identify open problems and discuss further research directions. The focus is on proposing a semantically sound theoretical and general framework for modelling component-based systems and their properties both behavioural and architectural as well for achieving correctness by using scalable specific techniques. We discuss the problem of composing components by proposing the concept of glue as a set of stateless composition operators defined by a certain type of operational semantics rules. We provide an overview of results about glue expressiveness and minimality. We show how interactions and associated transfer of data can be described by using connectors and in particular, how dynamic connectors can be defined as an extension of static connectors. We present two approaches for achieving correctness for component-based systems. One is by compositional inference of global properties of a composite component from properties of its constituents and interaction constraints implied by composition operators. The other is by using and composing architectures that enforce specific coordination properties. Finally, we discuss recent results on architecture specification by studying two types of logics: 1) interaction logics for the specification of sets of allowed interactions; 2) configuration logics for the characterisation of architecture styles

Source-to-Source Architecture Transformation for Performance Optimization in BIP

Behavior, Interaction, Priorities (BIP) is a component framework for constructing systems from a set of atomic components by using two kinds of composition operators: interactions and priorities. In this paper, we present a method that transforms the interactions of a component-based program in BIP and generates a functionally equivalent program. The method is based on the successive application of three types of source-to-source transformations: flattening of components, flattening of connectors, and composition of atomic components. We show that the system of the transformations is confluent and terminates. By exhaustive application of the transformations, any BIP component can be transformed into an equivalent monolithic component. From this component, efficient standalone C++ code can be generated. The method combines advantages of component-based description such as clarity, incremental construction, and reasoning with the possibility to generate efficient monolithic code. It has been integrated in the design methodology for BIP and it has been successfully applied to two non trivial examples described in this paper

A Semantic Framework for Architecture Modelling

Architectures are common means for organising coordination between components in order to build complex systems and to make them manageable. They allow thinking on a higher plane and avoiding low-level mistakes. Architectures provide means for ensuring correctness-by-construction by enforcing global properties characterising the coordination between components. In this work, we consider the following questions of architecture modelling: 1) how to model architectures; 2) how to compose them if several properties enforced by different architectures are required; 3) how to specify architectures styles that generalise the notion of architectures and represent families of architectures satisfying the same property. An architecture can be considered as an operator that, applied to a set of components, builds a composite component meeting a characteristic property. The underlying concepts of components and their interaction originate from the BIP framework. This thesis is structured in two parts. In the first part, we study the expressiveness of glue operators in the BIP framework. We provide results for classical BIP glue and for several modifications obtained by relaxing the constraints imposed on priority models. We also study an alternative semantics of BIP glue based on the offer predicate. It meets fundamental properties required from component-based frameworks, namely compositionality, incrementality, flattening and modularity. We provide the comparison with the classical BIP semantics and the algorithm for the synthesis of connectors from the interaction logic used to describe coordination constraints. In the second part, we define architectures and propose an architecture composition operator. We study their properties and prove that the composition operator preserves safety properties of its operands. The alternative glue semantics presented in the first part of the thesis allows to extend architectures with priorities. For the specification of architecture styles, we propose configuration logics. We provide a sound and complete axiomatisation of the propositional configuration logic as well as decision procedures for checking that an architecture satisfies a given logical specification. To allow genericity of specifications, we study higher-order extensions of the propositional configuration logic. We illustrate with examples the specification of various architecture styles. We provide an experimental evaluation using the Maude rewriting system to implement the decision procedure for configuration logics. Additionally, we study the relation between the architecture composition operator and the composition of configuration logic formulas