Higher-level statecharts for prototyping architectural dynamics

A system-level prototyping method has been developed for modeling the dynamics of concurrent real-time systems. This approach is based on higher-level statecharts, which embody object-based extensions to basic statecharts. To exemplify this method, a global communication mechanism is prototyped for a real-time multicomputer system that executes a single logical multitasking program. Since this prototype is intended to verify real-time concurrency logic, calibrate performance, and ensure safety, it includes a global virtual time base as a statechart subgraph. The prototyping process consists of capturing the system-level communication architecture in a higher-level statechart, and then translating it to an Ada multitasking program. A characteristic software architecture implicit in higher-level statecharts, known as a mutual agents architecture, appears to be suitable for an automated prototyping environment.<>