MARTE: a profile for RT/E systems modeling, analysis--and simulation?

ABSTRACT

As its name promises, the Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides a collection of diagrammatic modeling styles. To the early class/objects and use-case diagrams were almost immediately added state-, activity-, collaboration-, and component diagrams. All these modeling views, required for structural and behavioral representations of systems, were then progressed to further detailed expressivity. Provision for domain-specific specializations was made under the form of profiles.

Somehow this goal of being rather universal and extendible discarded the possibility of UML to adopt too strict and precise a semantics; as users were generally to define and refine it in their stereotyped profiles anyway. As a result, even the little execution semantics there is in the standard is often not considered in such specializations.

We tackled the general issue of defining a broadly expressive Time Model as a sub-profile of the upcoming OMG Profile for Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time Embedded systems (MARTE), currently undergoing finalization at OMG. The goal is to provide a generic timed interpretation, on which timed models of computation and timed simulation semantics could be built inside the UML definition scope, instead of as part of the many external proprietary profiles. The MARTE time library can be used as the basis for the definition of a UML real-time simulator.

REFERENCES

• 1: The Object Management Group. 2005. The Unified Modeling Language (UML). OMG Adopted Specification v2.1.2. http://www.omg.Org/spec/UML/2.1.2/.
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.3 SPECIAL-PURPOSE AND APPLICATION-BASED SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Real-time and embedded systems

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.4 PERFORMANCE OF SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Modeling techniques

  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.11 Software Architectures
            Subjects: Languages (e.g., description, interconnection, definition); Domain-specific architectures
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)
      D.2.6 Programming Environments
          Subjects: Graphical environments

General Terms:
Design, Languages, Performance, Standardization

Keywords:
MARTE, UML profile