Model-Driven Engineering and Formal Validation of High-Performance Embedded Systems

Abstract

The study presented in this paper concerns the safe design of high-performance embedded systems, specifically dedicated to intensive data-parallel processing as found, for instance, in modern multimedia applications or radar/sonar signal processing. Among the important requirements of such systems are the efficient execution, reliability and quality of service. Unfortunately, the complexity of modern embedded systems makes it difficult to meet all these requirements.

As an answer to this issue, this paper proposes a combination of two models of computation (MoCs) within a framework, called Gaspard, in order to deal with the design and validation of high-performance embedded systems. On the one hand, the repetitive MoC offers a powerful expression of the parallelism available in both system functionality and architecture. On the other hand, the synchronous MoC serves as a formal model on which a trustworthy verification can be applied. Here, the high-level models specified with the repetitive MoC are translated into an equational model in the synchronous MoC so as to be able to formally analyze different properties of the modeled systems. As an example, a clock synchronizability analysis is illustrated on a multimedia system in order to guarantee a correct interaction between its components. For the implementation and validation of our proposition, a Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) approach is adopted. MDE is well-suited to deal with design complexity and productivity issues. In our case, the OMG standard MARTE profile is used to model embedded systems. Then, automatic transformations are applied to these models to produce the corresponding synchronous programs for analysis.