Towards a methodology for rigorous development of generic requirements patterns

We present work in progress on a methodology for the engineering, validation and verification of generic requirements using domain engineering and formal methods. The need to develop a generic requirement set for subsequent system instantiation is complicated by the addition of the high levels of verification demanded by safety-critical domains such as avionics. We consider the failure detection and management function for engine control systems as an application domain where product line engineering is useful. The methodology produces a generic requirement set in our, UML based, formal notation, UML-B. The formal verification both of the generic requirement set, and of a particular application, is achieved via translation to the formal specification language, B, using our U2B and ProB tools

Modelling and Refinement in CODA

This paper provides an overview of the CODA framework for modelling and refinement of component-based embedded systems. CODA is an extension of Event-B and UML-B and is supported by a plug-in for the Rodin toolset. CODA augments Event-B with constructs for component-based modelling including components, communications ports, port connectors, timed communications and timing triggers. Component behaviour is specified through a combination of UML-B state machines and Event-B. CODA communications and timing are given an Event-B semantics through translation rules. Refinement is based on Event-B refinement and allows layered construction of CODA models in a consistent way.Comment: In Proceedings Refine 2013, arXiv:1305.563

Component Substitution through Dynamic Reconfigurations

Component substitution has numerous practical applications and constitutes an active research topic. This paper proposes to enrich an existing component-based framework--a model with dynamic reconfigurations making the system evolve--with a new reconfiguration operation which "substitutes" components by other components, and to study its impact on sequences of dynamic reconfigurations. Firstly, we define substitutability constraints which ensure the component encapsulation while performing reconfigurations by component substitutions. Then, we integrate them into a substitutability-based simulation to take these substituting reconfigurations into account on sequences of dynamic reconfigurations. Thirdly, as this new relation being in general undecidable for infinite-state systems, we propose a semi-algorithm to check it on the fly. Finally, we report on experimentations using the B tools to show the feasibility of the developed approach, and to illustrate the paper's proposals on an example of the HTTP server.Comment: In Proceedings FESCA 2014, arXiv:1404.043

Towards a method for rigorous development of generic requirements patterns

We present work in progress on a method for the engineering, validation and verification of generic requirements using domain engineering and formal methods. The need to develop a generic requirement set for subsequent system instantiation is complicated by the addition of the high levels of verification demanded by safety-critical domains such as avionics. Our chosen application domain is the failure detection and management function for engine control systems: here generic requirements drive a software product line of target systems. A pilot formal specification and design exercise is undertaken on a small (twosensor) system element. This exercise has a number of aims: to support the domain analysis, to gain a view of appropriate design abstractions, for a B novice to gain experience in the B method and tools, and to evaluate the usability and utility of that method.We also present a prototype method for the production and verification of a generic requirement set in our UML-based formal notation, UML-B, and tooling developed in support. The formal verification both of the structural generic requirement set, and of a particular application, is achieved via translation to the formal specification language, B, using our U2B and ProB tools

Software (Re-)Engineering with PSF II: from architecture to implementation

This paper presents ongoing research on the application of PSF in the field of software engineering and reengineering. We build a new implementation for the simulator of the PSF Toolkit starting from the specification in PSF of the architecture of a simple simulator and extend it with features to obtain the architecture of a full simulator. We apply refining and constraining techniques on the specification of the architecture to obtain a specification low enough to build an implementation from