A Formal Speci cation Model for Hardware / Software

Embedded controllers for reactive real-time applications are implemented as mixed software-hardware systems. In this paper we present a model for speciication, partitioning, and implementation of such systems. The model, called Codesign Finite State Machines (CFSMs), is based on FSMs and is particularly suited to a speciic class of systems with relatively low algo-rithmic complexity. Pre-existing formal speciication languages can be used by the designer to specify the intended behavior of the system and mapped into our model. CFSMs use a non-zero unbounded reaction delay model and hence can be indiierently implemented either in hardware or in software. The implementation only restricts the range of variation of some previously undeened delays, thus preserving formal properties of the speciication across implementation reenements. The communication primitive, event broadcasting, is low-level enough to be implemented eeciently and yet general enough to allow higher-level mechanisms (such as channels) to be deened by the designer.

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