A model-based methodology of programming cyber-physical systems

Model-based development typically focuses on functional and structural aspects of a system. More recently, timing and performance attributes have been suggested in prior papers to enable modeling environments realize more realistic implementations based on platform mappings. In this paper, we present model-based development in the context of cyber-physical systems. Instead of being totally platform agnostic, we allow users to provide options upfront in design which suggest the broader capability of platforms (such as reconfigurable hardware-based (FPGAs) or processor-based) including bus interconnects. We focus on distributed systems comprising of a mix of such heterogeneous platforms and present semantics to suggest three modes of communication: isochronous, asynchronous and event-based. Additionally we also present means for users to observe the designed behavior of software or hardware components and to constrain them by viewing and interacting with the components in an activity profiling timeline view. This methodology allows synthesis of efficient code, including inter-platform communication and quick upfront analysis thereby allowing for a better and more realistic implementation of the design.