Discrete loops and worst case performance

Abstract

In this paper so-called discrete loops are introduced which narrow the gap between general loops (e.g. while- or repeat-loops) and for-loops. Although discrete loops can be used for applications that would otherwise require general loops, discrete loops are known to complete in any case. Furthermore it is possible to determine the number of iterations of a discrete loop, while this is trivial to do for for-loops and extremely difficult for general loops. Thus discrete loops form an ideal frame-work for determining the worst case timing behavior of a program and they are especially useful in implementing real-time systems and proving such systems correct.