A UML profile and a methodology for real-Time systems design

Modern real-time systems are increasingly complex and pervasive. Model Driven Engineering is the emerging approach for the design of complex systems, strongly based on the usage of abstract models as key artifacts, from which an implementation is derived through a series of well-defined (automated) transformations. The widely adopted input notation in MDE is the Unified Modelling Language. To express models in a particular domain, and notably for the modelling of real-time embedded systems, UML profiles have been proposed, which enrich the set of UML native elements with a consistent set of extensions. In this trend, this paper develops an approach to the design of real-time systems, based on a UML profile which is obtained from the OMG standard SPT-Profile, with a few necessary modifications. The profile also incorporates a methodology for automatically mapping the UML model into a task set with periods and deadlines, in line with the MDE philosophy. An illustrative example is provided.