The use of GMB in the design of robust software for distributed systems

State-space modelling of software for distributed systems has been effective in exposing design faults and has provided a method for the placement of software fault-tolerant structures. The paper considers the use of the UCLA Graphical Model of Behaviour (GMB) in the design and simulation of software for distributed systems with emphasis on the study of dynamic interprocess interactions. GMB possesses a number of analytical features which improve the models. A case study of the design of robust software for a safety critical application shows that GMB provides a complementary, and in some respects superior, method to Petri-net modelling