Specification techniques for real-time systems

Abstract

This paper is a course on specification. Since it is based on experiences in the field of Software Engineering, it applies primarily to Software Specifications. Many observations and reports indicate, however, that, from specification aspects, there is not much difference between information processing systems in general and software in particular. Therfore, most of this course applies also to System Specification. There are methods, languages, and tools for writing specifications. In this paper, we concentrate on methods and languages. We start with the definitions of a few fundamental terms and of the qualities of specifications. In the main part of the paper, we present four specification methods together with their underlying languages, namely Structured Analysis, SADT, PSL, and RSL. A few sample specifications written in these languages are given in order to convey an optical impression of each language. The paper ends with some general conclusions and a list of references.