Third eye — specification-based analysis of software execution traces (poster session)
Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on Software engineering
Synthesis of monitors for real-time analysis of reactive systems
Pillars of computer science
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The Logic Assurance System (LA) combines testing, debugging, monitoring and control of real-time systems. It is capable of improving system's reliability and development productivity. This is achieved by enabling the developer to describe parts of the specification with logic and temporal logic assertions. The assertions, which are written in the LA Language and describe parts of the specification, are automatically compared to the actual behavior of the system under development (SUD) and its environment. Information about the SUD's behavior is represented by informative events and states. This information is transferred to LA from different resources, including from inside the tested software, by using special directives inserted inside the code (an approach we call informative box). When an assertion is violated, an informative message is given so that bugs can be detected and focused on. In addition to the message, a user function can be called. This can be used for real-time control and monitoring either while testing the system or after it has already been launched (for example, when testing assertions regarding safety). The informative box method enables one to perform smart, pin-pointed tests and temporal tests, neither of which can be performed by using standard black-box techniques. This is why LA can assist in the testing and integration of real-time embedded systems, reactive systems, and particular, in the testing of multiprocessor systems running cooperative processes. It is anticipated that considerable time and effort can be saved by using LA throughout the development process. Moreover, it has the capability to detect erroneous situations that otherwise would be more difficult to notice, as was proven when used to handle several communication protocol simulations.