Arctic: A functional language for real-time control

ABSTRACT

Arctic is a language for the specification and implementation of real-time control systems. Unlike more conventional languages for real-time control, which emphasize concurrency, Arctic is a stateless language in which the relationships between system inputs, outputs and intermediate terms are expressed as operations on time-varying functions. Arctic allows discrete events or conditions to invoke and modify responses asynchronously, but because programs have no state, synchronization problems are greatly simplified. Furthermore, Arctic programs are non-sequential, and the timing of system responses is notated explicitly. This eliminates the need for the programmer to be concerned with the execution sequence, which accounts for much of the difficulty in real-time programming.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications
          Subjects: Applicative (functional) languages

Additional Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.7 COMPUTERS IN OTHER SYSTEMS
      Subjects: Real time

General Terms:
Languages