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Pattern-based development of communication systems

Développement de systèmes de télécommunication fondé sur l’emploi de formes

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Abstract

Reuse of solutions and experience for recurring development problems is of the utmost importance for a pragmatic software engineering discipline. The earlier reuse is achieved in the development process, the larger its positive impact on the project. Design patterns are a wellknown reuse approach, and — in contrast to the usual reuse of code fragments — focus on the reuse of design decisions. In this contribution, a specialisation of the design pattern idea for the development of communication systems, called SDL patterns, is presented, SDL patterns have been used to engineer and re-engineer a variety of protocols, e.g., ST2+ and several customised, CAN-based protocols. Formal description techniques (FDTS) are the basis for the definition and application of SDL patterns, which combines the advantages of design patterns and FDTS. To illustrate the complete development process in general and some of its pattern-based steps in particular, we systematically, step by step, develop a solution for real-time requirements from the application area buildingautomation. We show how the requirements and additional domain knowledge of the application area lead to a high-level system design, communication requirements, a customised communication protocol, and -finally - to the automatic generation of an implementation in a real-time environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the traceability of design decisions across development phases, a prerequisite for validation and maintainability.

Résumé

La réutilisation de solutions et de l’expérience acquise dans les problèmes de développement répétitifs est de la plus grande importance pour rendre pragmatique le génie logiciel. Plus elle est précoce dans le processus de développement, plus grand est son impact favorable sur le projet. Les « formes de conception » constituent une méthode bien connue de réutilisation qui, contrairement à la réutilisation usuelle de fragments de code, réutilise essentiellement les décisions de conception. L’article présente une spécialisation du concept de forme de conception au développement de systèmes de télécommunication, les «formes SDL », fondées sur le langage de spécification et de description fonctionnelles SDL. Les formes SDL ont été employées pour concevoir et reconcevoir divers protocoles, par exemple ST2+ et des adaptations de CAN. Leur définition et leur application sont fondées sur les techniques de description formelles (FDT), dont elles combinent les avantages avec ceux des formes de conception. Pour illustrer de façon générale le processus complet de développement et, plus particulièrement, certaines de ses étapes fondées sur l’emploi de formes, l’article développe systématiquement et pas à pas une solution prenant en compte les exigences en temps réel dans l’automatisation d’un bâtiment à usage de bureaux. Les exigences et les connaissances relatives au domaine conduisent successivement à une conception du système à haut niveau, aux exigences relatives aux télécommunications, à une personnalisation du protocole de communication, et enfin à la génération automatique d’une implantation dans un environnement en temps réel. On insiste sur la traçabilité des décisions de conception tout au long des phases de développement, qui est nécessaire pour la validation et la maintenabilité.

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Correspondence to Reinhard Gotzhein or Philipp Schaible.

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This work has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as part of Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB), Development of large systems with generic methods.

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Gotzhein, R., Schaible, P. Pattern-based development of communication systems. Ann. Télécommun. 54, 508–525 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03004067

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