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UML and SDL are languages for the development of software systems that have different origins, and have evolved separately for many years. Recently, it can be observed that OMG and ITU, the standardisation bodies responsible for UML and SDL, respectively, are making efforts to harmonise these languages. So far, harmonisation takes place mainly on a conceptual level, by extending and aligning the set of language concepts. In this paper, we argue that harmonisation of languages can be approached both from a syntactic and semantic perspective. We show how a common syntactical basis can be derived from the analysis of the UML meta-model
and the SDL abstract grammar. For this purpose, conceptually sound and well-founded mappings from meta-models to abstract grammars and vice versa are defined and applied. On the semantic level, a comparison between corresponding language constructs is performed.
The Basic Reference Model of ODP introduces a number of basic concepts in order to provide a common basis for the development of a coherent set of standards. To achieve this objective, a clear understanding of the basic concepts is one prerequisite. This paper makes an effort at clarifying some of the basic concepts independently of standardized or non-standardized formal description techniques. Among the basic concepts considered here are: agent, action, interaction, interaction point, architecture, behaviour, system, composition, refinement, and abstraction. In a case study, it is then shown how these basic concepts can be represented in a formal specification written in temporal logic.
A non-trivial real-time requirement obeying a pattern that can be foundin various instantiations in the application domain building automation, and which is therefore called generic, is investigated in detail. Starting point is a description of a real-time problem in natural language augmented by a diagram, in a style often found in requirements documents. Step by step, this description is made more precise and finally transformed into a surprisingly concise formal specification, written in real-time temporal logic with customized operators. Wereason why this formal specification precisely captures the original description- as far as this is feasible due to the lack of precision of natural language.
Over a period of 30 years, ITU-T’s Specification and Description Language (SDL) has matured to a sophisticated formal modelling language for distributed systems and communication protocols. The language definition of SDL-2000, the latest version of SDL, is complex and difficult to maintain. Full tool support for SDL is costly to implement. Therefore, only subsets of SDL are currently supported by tools. These SDL subsets - called SDL profiles - already cover a wide range of systems, and are often suffcient in practice. In this report, we present our approach for extracting the formal semantics for SDL profiles from the complete SDL semantics. We then formalise the approach, present our SDL-profile tool, and report on our experiences.
The provision of network Quality-of-Service (network QoS) in wireless (ad-hoc) networks is a major challenge in the development of future communication systems. Before designing and implementing these systems, the network QoS requirements are to be specified. Since QoS functionalities are integrated across layers and hence QoS specifications exist on different system layers, a QoS mapping technique is needed to translate the specifications into each other. In this paper, we formalize the relationship between layers. Based on a comprehensive and holistic formalization of network QoS requirements, we define two kinds of QoS mappings. QoS domain mappings associate QoS domains of two abstraction levels. QoS scalability mappings associate utility and cost functions of two abstraction levels. We illustrate our approach by examples from the case study Wireless Video Transmission.
Correctness and runtime efficiency are essential properties of software ingeneral and of high-speed protocols in particular. Establishing correctnessrequires the use of FDTs during protocol design, and to prove the protocolcode correct with respect to its formal specification. Another approach toboost confidence in the correctness of the implementation is to generateprotocol code automatically from the specification. However, the runtimeefficiency of this code is often insufficient. This has turned out to be amajor obstacle to the use of FDTs in practice.One of the FDTs currently applied to communication protocols is Es-telle. We show how runtime efficiency can be significantly improved byseveral measures carried out during the design, implementation and run-time of a protocol. Recent results of improvements in the efficiency ofEstelle-based protocol implementations are extended and interpreted.
The purpose of this expose is to explain the generic design of a customized communication subsystem. The expose addresses both functional and non-functional aspects. Starting point is a real-time requirement from the application area building automation. We show how this application requirement and some background information about the application area lead to a system architecture, a communication service, a protocol architecture and to the selection, adaptation, and composition of protocol functionalities. The reader will probably be surprised how much effort is necessary in order to implement the innocuous, innocent, inconspicuous looking application requirement. Formal description techniques (FDTs) will be used in all design phases.
The provision of network Quality-of-Service (network QoS) in wireless (ad-hoc) networks is a major challenge in the development of future communication systems. Before designing and implementing these systems, the network QoS requirements are to be specified. Existing approaches to the specification of network QoS requirements are mainly focused on specific domains or individual system layers. In this paper, we present a holistic, comprehensive formalization of network QoS requirements, across layers. QoS requirements are specified on each layer by defining QoS domain, consisting of QoS performance, reliability, and guarantee, and QoS scalability, with utility and cost functions. Furthermore, we derive preorders on multi-dimensional QoS domains, and present criteria to reduce these domains, leading to a manageable subset of QoS values that is sufficient for system design and implementation. We illustrate our approach by examples from the case study Wireless Video Transmission.