TURTLE-P: a UML profile for the formal validation of critical and distributed systems

The timed UML and RT-LOTOS environment, or TURTLE for short, extends UML class and activity diagrams with composition and temporal operators. TURTLE is a real-time UML profile with a formal semantics expressed in RT-LOTOS. Further, it is supported by a formal validation toolkit. This paper introduces TURTLE-P, an extended profile no longer restricted to the abstract modeling of distributed systems. Indeed, TURTLE-P addresses the concrete descriptions of communication architectures, including quality of service parameters (delay, jitter, etc.). This new profile enables co-design of hardware and software components with extended UML component and deployment diagrams. Properties of these diagrams can be evaluated and/or validated thanks to the formal semantics given in RT-LOTOS. The application of TURTLE-P is illustrated with a telecommunication satellite system

Verifying service continuity in a satellite reconfiguration procedure: application to a satellite

The paper discusses the use of the TURTLE UML profile to model and verify service continuity during dynamic reconfiguration of embedded software, and space-based telecommunication software in particular. TURTLE extends UML class diagrams with composition operators, and activity diagrams with temporal operators. Translating TURTLE to the formal description technique RT-LOTOS gives the profile a formal semantics and makes it possible to reuse verification techniques implemented by the RTL, the RT-LOTOS toolkit developed at LAAS-CNRS. The paper proposes a modeling and formal validation methodology based on TURTLE and RTL, and discusses its application to a payload software application in charge of an embedded packet switch. The paper demonstrates the benefits of using TURTLE to prove service continuity for dynamic reconfiguration of embedded software

Mapping RT-LOTOS specifications into Time Petri Nets

RT-LOTOS is a timed process algebra which enables compact and abstract specification of real-time systems. This paper proposes and illustrates a structural translation of RT-LOTOS terms into behaviorally equivalent (timed bisimilar) finite Time Petri nets. It is therefore possible to apply Time Petri nets verification techniques to the profit of RT-LOTOS. Our approach has been implemented in RTL2TPN, a prototype tool which takes as input an RT-LOTOS specification and outputs a TPN. The latter is verified using TINA, a TPN analyzer developed by LAAS-CNRS. The toolkit made of RTL2TPN and TINA has been positively benchmarked against previously developed RT-LOTOS verification tool

Temporal verification in secure group communication system design

The paper discusses an experience in using a real-time UML/SysML profile and a formal verification toolkit to check a secure group communication system against temporal requirements. A generic framework is proposed and specialized for hierarchical groups

From RT-LOTOS to Time Petri Nets new foundations for a verification platform

The formal description technique RT-LOTOS has been selected as intermediate language to add formality to a real-time UML profile named TURTLE. For this sake, an RT-LOTOS verification platform has been developed for early detection of design errors in real-time system models. The paper discusses an extension of the platform by inclusion of verification tools developed for Time Petri Nets. The starting point is the definition of RT-LOTOS to TPN translation patterns. In particular, we introduce the concept of components embedding Time Petri Nets. The translation patterns are implemented in a prototype tool which takes as input an RT-LOTOS specification and outputs a TPN in the format admitted by the TINA tool. The efficiency of the proposed solution has been demonstrated on various case studies

The formal, tool supported development of real time systems

The language SDL has long been applied in the development of various kinds of systems. Real-time systems are one application area where SDL has been applied extensively. Whilst SDL allows for certain modelling aspects of real-time systems to be represented, the language and its associated tool support have certain drawbacks for modelling and reasoning about such systems. In this paper we highlight the limitations of SDL and its associated tool support in this domain and present language extensions and next generation real-time system tool support to help overcome them. The applicability of the extensions and tools is demonstrated through a case study based upon a multimedia binding object used to support a configuration of time dependent information producers and consumers realising the so called lip-synchronisation algorithm

Effective representation of RT-LOTOS terms by finite time petri nets

The paper describes a transformational approach for the specification and formal verification of concurrent and real-time systems. At upper level, one system is specified using the timed process algebra RT-LOTOS. The output of the proposed transformation is a Time Petri net (TPN). The paper particularly shows how a TPN can be automatically constructed from an RT-LOTOS specification using a compositionally defined mapping. The proof of the translation consistency is sketched in the paper and developed in [1]. The RT-LOTOS to TPN translation patterns formalized in the paper are being implemented. in a prototype tool. This enables reusing TPNs verification techniques and tools for the profit of RT-LOTOS

Conception basée modèle des systèmes temps réel et distribués

Les systèmes temps réel et distribués posent des problèmes complexes en termes de conception d'architecture et de description de comportements. De par leur criticité en vies humaines et leurs coûts de prototypage, ces systèmes ont motivé le développement d'une activité de recherche sur les langages de modélisation formelle et les techniques de validation basées modèle qui contribuent à la détection au plus tôt des erreurs de conception. Néanmoins, les langages formels ont eu un succès plus que limité dans l'industrie. L'arrivée du langage UML (Unified Modeling Language) a ouvert de nouveaux horizons pour l'intégration de langages de modélisation formelle dans une méthodologie de conception susceptible d'être mieux acceptée par les praticiens du domaine. En s'appuyant sur une expérience antérieure de la technique de description formelle Estelle et des extensions temporelles des réseaux de Petri, notre activité de recherche sur les cinq dernières années a débouché sur la production d'un profil UML nommé TURTLE (Timed UML and RT-LOTOS Environment). TURTLE surpasse UML 2.0 par ses extensions aux diagrammes d'analyse et de conception UML, sa sémantique formelle exprimée en RT-LOTOS, et ses outils de support (éditeur de diagrammes et outil de validation formelle combinant simulation et vérification basée sur une analyse d'accessibilité). La méthodologie TURTLE trouve son champ d'application naturel dans la conception de systèmes temps réel et la validation d'architectures de communication en particulier. L'approche proposée a été appliquée avec succès à des systèmes satellitaires et des protocoles d'authentification

Toward a Generic Framework for Ubiquitous System

International audienceIn this paper we present a beginning work about industrial applications using WEB technologies. Systems to study are, for example, robot arms in factories, Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial center or buildings, water distribution networks or power management consumption systems of corporate. WEB technologies give us new opportunities to collect the data, to analyze correlations of signals and external events, and finally to change in "soft real-time" the parameters of the managed system. But these applications can be strongly influenced by the behaviour of the communication network and its reliability. We describe the key points that we will explore in our further work

Real-Time Estelle

Estelle is one of the standardized Formal Description Techniques for the specification of communication protocols and distributed systems. Unfortunately, Estelle is not capable to express real-time requirements or characteristics of services or protocols which is especially important in the context of distributed multimedia systems. In this paper, we introduce an extension to Estelle called Real-Time Estelle that allows to describe real-time systems. We introduce the syntax of the new language and propose both an operational and a descriptive semantics. Examples show the usefulness of the approach. We also discuss ways to implement Real-Time Estelle specifications