Model-Based Validation & Verification Integrated with SW Architecture Analysis: A Feasibility Study

This feasibility study investigates how non-embedded software components can be modeled in a model-driven environment typically used by embedded system designers, and then validated, verified and integrated into the architecture of a software system. The test objects for this study were the Loss-Of-Separation-detector (LOS) component and the Automated-Collision-Avoidance (ACA) component of a prototype of the Tactical Separation Assisted Flight Environment (TSAFE), which serves as testbed for experimental software studies at Fraunhofer Center Maryland (FC-MD). The LOS component was already implemented in TSAFE. For the ACA component only the requirements were specified. Both components were modeled in Simulink (a platform for multi domain simulation and Model-Based Design) and comprehensively tested using Reactis (a software tool that automates testing of Simulink models). Source code was generated from the Simulink model using Real-Time Workshop. The integration of Simulink models and the generated source code with legacy software architectures using SAVE (a tool for Software Architecture Visualization and Evaluation) was also briefly studied. The strengths and weaknesses of this process are analyzed with the goal to determine its applicability in practice and how it can be integrated into the software development process.