Title :
Visual language for behavioral specifications of reactive systems
Author :
Chau, H. Lewis ; Chan, Gary K.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Hong Kong Univ., Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong
Abstract :
Complex reactive systems require specifying the relationship of inputs and outputs in the time domain. Typically, such descriptions involve complex sequences of events, often, with explicit timing constraints, that combine to form the system´s overall behavior. In addition, most reactive systems are highly concurrent and hierarchical. Investigating formal methods for behavior specification of reactive systems presents real challenges. A new visual language for behavioral specification of complex reactive systems is described. We call it Constraint Narrowing Grammar (CNG). CNG combines concepts from logic programming, rewriting, and lazy evaluation. The non-deterministic and nonterminating properties of CNG make it a nice formalism to model infinite reactive systems´ behavior. We demonstrate how a graphical specification can be mapped to CNG rules and show step-by-step how notations of hierarchy, concurrency, and event communication are introduced into the specification. The resulting grammar is an executable behavioral specification of complex reactive systems
Keywords :
formal specification; grammars; graphical user interfaces; logic programming; rewriting systems; visual languages; Constraint Narrowing Grammar; behavior specification; behavioral specification; behavioral specifications; complex reactive systems; concurrency; concurrent systems; event communication; explicit timing constraints; formal methods; grammar; graphical specification; hierarchical systems; hierarchy; infinite reactive systems; lazy evaluation; logic programming; nondeterministic properties; nonterminating properties; rewriting; time domain; visual language; Automobiles; Communication networks; Computer science; Concurrent computing; Displays; Logic programming; Maintenance; Prototypes; Telephony; Timing;
Conference_Titel :
Computer Languages, 1994., Proceedings of the 1994 International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Toulouse
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-5640-X
DOI :
10.1109/ICCL.1994.288380