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Issue No.10 - October (2008 vol.57)
pp: 1315-1330
ABSTRACT
We provide an algebraic formalization of connectors in the BIP component framework. A connector relates a set of typed ports. Types are used to describe different modes of synchronization: rendezvous and broadcast, in particular. Connectors on a set of ports P are modeled as terms of the algebra AC(P), generated from P by using a binary fusion operator and a unary typing operator. Typing associates with terms (ports or connectors) synchronization types --- trigger or synchron --- that determine modes of synchronization. Broadcast interactions are initiated by triggers. Rendezvous is a maximal interaction of a connector including only synchrons. The semantics of AC(P) associates with a connector the set of its interactions. It induces on connectors an equivalence relation which is not a congruence as it is not stable for fusion. We provide a number of properties of AC(P) used to symbolically simplify and handle connectors. We provide examples illustrating applications of AC(P), including a general component model encompassing synchrony, methods for incremental model decomposition, and efficient implementation by using symbolic techniques.
INDEX TERMS
Real-time and embedded systems, System architectures, integration and modeling, Systems specification methodology, Interconnections (Subsystems), Architecture
CITATION
Simon Bliudze, Joseph Sifakis, "The Algebra of Connectors—Structuring Interaction in BIP", IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol.57, no. 10, pp. 1315-1330, October 2008, doi:10.1109/TC.2008.26
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