Abstract
While evolving from an abstract concept into a detailed implementation, the design of a complex digital system proceeds through different design stages. Due to the lack of effective communication of design intent among these stages, errors are introduced in the product. Early detection of such errors is crucial for increasing the robustness and reducing the design costs of the final product. To facilitate early detection, a design methodology must support model continuity.
We address the problem of model continuity in the context of reactive systems through the integration of operational specification and performance models. Both models execute concurrently, exchanging data and simulation stimuli with each other. We have developed a novel technique, called performance annotation, which allows the dynamic incorporation of delay-related information into an operational specification from a concurrently executing performance model. This incorporation is done in an implementation-independent manner. We also provide conformance checking between the two models using a simulation-based algorithm. Similar to the comparison-checking technique found in the context of software design diversity, this algorithm checks the operational-specification and performance models by comparing their output sequences against each other. However, we also address situations when the output sequences can be quite different even if the models conform, and prove that the algorithm correctly determines all conformance violations, under certain design assumptions, during a simulation session.
Integration of operational specification and performance models gives rise to a novel design methodology. Starting from an operational specification, the designer proposes an implementation in an incremental and iteratively-refined manner. Using this methodology, we demonstrate how one can validate an implementation against its specification, remove ambiguities in the original specification, and obtain very early performance estimates for a system under design.
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Sarkar, A., Waxman, R., Cohoon, J.P. (1996). Integrating Operational Specification with Performance Modeling for Digital-System Design. In: Bergé, JM., Levia, O., Rouillard, J. (eds) Meta-Modeling. Current Issues in Electronic Modeling, vol 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1347-2_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1347-2_1
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