Real-time pattern matching technique for executable SA/RT specifications

Preliminary results with an experimental run-time system are reported. The run-time system is designed for real-time prototyping of software specifications created with the Ward & Mellor Structured Analysis for Real-Time systems (SA/RT) techniques. Execution is based on SA/RT specifications converted to an object-oriented C language syntax from a high-level Petri net representation of SA/RT specifications. The run-time system controlling execution is based on an efficient pattern-directed implementation of the Ward scheduling algorithm which is needed to execute the SA/RT specifications according to their native execution rules. The design and the implementation issues of pattern matching and the Ward scheduling techniques on a single-processor system are presented and discussed in detail. The possibilities of extending this approach to hard real-time systems prototyping are discussed