Early Validation of Real-Time Systems by Model Execution

Abstract The late validation of temporal aspects is still today the great bottleneck in embedded real-time systems (ERTS) development. In this article, a twofold approach is presented to reduce this problem: to enhance the visibility of temporal aspects in the product through the use of the proper design notations and models, and to integrate these notations with tools that allow the validation in a stage previous to coding. Both tools and notations allow the early feedback of functional and timing behavior, provide automatic support for the validation, and reduce the conceptual distance between the system specification and its implementation.