Analysis as first-class citizens – an application to Architecture Description Languages

Architecture Description Languages (ADLs) support modeling and analysis of systems through models transformation and exploration. Various contributions made proposals to bring verification capabilities to designers through model-based frame- works and illustrated benefits to the overall system quality. Model-level analyses are usually performed as an exogenous, unidirectional and semantically weak transformation towards a third-party model. We claim such process can be incomplete and/or inefficient because gathered results lead to evolution of the primary model. This is particularly problematic for the design of Distributed Real-Time Embedded (DRE) systems that has to tackle many concerns like time, security or safety. In this paper, we argue why analysis should no longer be considered as a side step in the design process but, rather, should be embedded as a first-class citizen in the model itself. We review several standardized architecture description languages, which consider analysis as a goal. As an element of solution, we introduce current work on the definition of a language dedicated to the analysis of models within the scope of one particular ADL, namely the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL)

Heterogeneous models and analyses in the design of real-time embedded systems - an avionic case-study

The development of embedded systems according to Model-Driven Development relies on two complementary activities: system mod- eling on the one hand and analysis of the non-functional properties, such as timing properties, on the other hand. Yet, the coupling be- tween models and analyses remains largely disregarded so far: e.g. how to apply an analysis on a model? How to manage the analysis process? This paper presents an application of our research on this topic. In particular, we show that our approach makes it possible to combine heterogeneous models and analyses in the design of an avionic system. We use two languages to model the system at di erent levels of abstraction: the industry standard AADL (Ar- chitecture Analysis and Design Language) and the more recent implementation-oriented CPAL language (Cyber-Physical Action Language). We then combine di erent real-time scheduling analy- ses so as to gradually de ne the task and network parameters and nally validate the schedulability of all activities of the system

Towards the Systematic Analysis of Non-Functional Properties in Model-Based Engineering for Real-Time Embedded Systems

The real-time scheduling theory provides analytical methods to assess the temporal predictability of embedded systems. Nevertheless, their use is limited in a Model-Based Systems Engineering approach. In fact, the large number of applicability conditions makes the use of real-time scheduling analysis tedious and error-prone. Key issues are left to the engineers: when to apply a real-time scheduling analysis? What to do with the analysis results?} This article presents an approach to systematize and then automate the analysis of non-functional properties in Model-Based Systems Engineering. First, preconditions and postconditions define the applicability of an analysis. In addition, contracts specify the analysis interfaces, thereby enabling to reason about the analysis process. We present a proof-of-concept implementation of our approach using a combination of constraint languages (REAL for run-time analysis) and specification languages (Alloy for describing interfaces and reasoning about them). This approach is experimented on architectural models written with the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL)

Towards the qualification of an AADL model transformation tool with contracts.

Model-Based Engineering (MBE) can be used to build complex and critical systems. At the core of MBE, model transformation allows for the automatic processing of models to automatically generate code of the application or to perform analysis. In the context of safety-critical applications, qualification of MBE tools must provide evidence that the model transformation process is ``correct''. Its implementation must (i) document the transformation process itself, and support validation (ii) to infer properties on this process. We propose to use contracts to support qualification of the model transformation process. Contracts, by providing a formal specification of a model transformation, can be used in different ways, either to detect contract violations at run time or to demonstrate properties of the model transformation at the design time. This approach has been experimented in the context of Ocarina, an AADL toolset (Architecture Analysis and Design Language)

Refinement of AADL models using early-stage analysis methods : An avionics example

Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) is a relevant approach to support the engineering of distributed embedded systems with performance and dependability constraints. MDE involves models definitions and transformations to cover most of the system life-cycle: design, implementation and Verifi cation & Validation activities towards system quali fication. Still, few works evaluate the early integration of performance evaluation based on architectural models. In this report, we investigate the early-stage use of analysis in AADL modeling. Precisely, we exemplify on an avionics case study how to dimension the data flows for an application distributed over an AFDX network. Based on the insight from this study, we suggest a simple framework and associated techniques to e fficiently support analysis activities in the early-stage design phases

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements