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Adding temporal modeling to the UML to support systems design
Author(s) -
Neill Colin J.,
Holt Jon D.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
systems engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.474
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1520-6858
pISSN - 1098-1241
DOI - 10.1002/sys.10024
Subject(s) - computer science , unified modeling language , applications of uml , modeling language , programming language , uml tool , object constraint language , formalism (music) , completeness (order theory) , formal methods , software engineering , software , art , musical , mathematical analysis , mathematics , visual arts
The UML has been proposed as a suitable modeling language for systems engineering. There are questions, however, regarding the language's suitability. For example, the interfaces between heterogeneous systems must be precisely defined during design, and the completeness and precision of that definition is heavily dependent on the modelling language used. This article contends that the UML in its current form is insufficient for this purpose because it has no provision for the analysis of complex time‐based interactions typical of such an interface. The solution proposed here is to translate the UML models that define those interfaces into a formal method. This translation can be automated, therefore “hiding” the formalism from the user, but still providing the analytical benefits. The formal method used is the Q‐model. This is a mathematically based computational model used primarily in the design of time‐critical systems and includes support for sophisticated temporal analysis. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 5, 213–222, 2002