Towards a declarative modeling and execution framework for real-time systems

Our work is a contribution towards addressing what Thomas Henziger called the grand challenge in embedded software design [5]: "offering high-level programming models that exposes the execution properties of a system in a way that permits the programmer to express desired reaction and execution requirements, permits the compiler and run-time systems to ensure that these requirements are satisfied". In the programming model we describe here, the developer states the permissible timing behavior of the system, a system synthesis step involving both analysis and optimization generates a scheduling solution which at run-time is enforced by the execution environment. With respect to the synchronous programming models, our approach implements a weaker version of time-determinism, still providing a form of timing-predictability sufficient in many applications while remaining closer to mainstay software development practices. This approach is currently being implemented and experimented in the CPAL language development tools and associated runtime environment.