Distinguishing features and potential roles of the RTO.k object model

In recent years, searching for a proper extension of the basic object model to meet the needs present in hard-real-time system development environments has become a serious research issue. The first co-author and Hermann Kopetz at the Technical University of Vienna formulated an extension of the basic object model, called the RTO.k object model, as one attempt to meet such needs. In the past two years, we have been making efforts to develop practical easy-to-use tools which assist the system engineers in (1) RTO.k structured description and simulation of application environments and (2) RTO.k structured hierarchical design of control computer systems. Unique features of the RTO.k model which distinguish it from other extensions of the basic object model as well as common features are presented. The roles which the RTO.k model can play during various steps of the real-time system engineering process are then discussed.