Issues

The development of critical embedded systems relies on numerous tools on which it is essential to capitalize in order to optimize development costs.

However, the maintenance life cycle is often as long as 10 to 30 years, and today, no software editor is able to commit for such a long time at an acceptable cost.

To counter these risks, the CNRT Aeronautic & Space partners have put forward a project which aims to develop an open source CASE environment with the following goals :

• perpetuate the methods and tools for critical embedded system development from system specification to software and hardware implementation through equipment definition,
• minimize ownership costs,
• ensure the independence of development platforms,
• integrate, as soon as possible, advances made in the academic world, and methodological changes,
• be able to adapt the tools to the process, and not the opposite,
• take into account qualification constraints.

Common needs

Modeling Requierements, Static and real time architecture, Object oriented design,t Domain specific meta-models : UML, SysML, AADL/COTRE, automata, etc.
Verifying Models Model transformation Model Checking Simulation
Managing Models Configuration Process Requirements Modifications	Transforming Models Documentation Tests Code Data bases	Implementing Code : C, C++, VHDL, Java, ADA, Python, Perl, Shell, CAML, XML, ... Debugging

Technical choices

N-tiers architecture centered on models Adaptable tools (configuration, plugins, etc.), able to manage any kind of model thanks to the meta-modeling approach A smooth transition from existing elements (models, verification tools, test plans, etc.) to the new tools and formalisms (UML2, etc.) Development based on existing open source software (Eclipse platform, ATL, ...) Tools taking into account distributed workbench An open system (import/export plugins, data access API)

Our ambitions

• Develop high quality open source model editors supporting an integrated development process from system specification to product architecture and implementation (including software and hardware components)
• Develop and integrate transformation and formal verification tools by improving existing techniques and theories (model checking, simulation, model transformations, etc)
• Define modelling languages according to process development phases and certification constraints
• Determine the business model for the TOPCASED products (licensing, IP, support, services ...)

But also

• Provide support for teaching (tools, micro-projects, etc)
• Consolidate cooperation between academic and industrial players
• Rely on the long-term structure of the academic world to ensure project continuity
• Set up a contributory maintenance processe
• Federate research projects and ensure the industrialization of their results (collaboration in progress with Eclipse MDDi, IST Modelware, TopModL,SAE/AADL, ASSERT and AMMA/ATLAS)