Embedded UML Model Execution to Bridge the Gap Between Design and Runtime

The number and complexity of embedded systems is rising. Consequently, their development requires increased productivity as well as means to ensure quality. Model-based techniques can help achieve both. With classical model-driven development techniques, developers start by building design models before producing actual code. Although various approaches can be used to validate models and code separately, models and code are however separated by a semantic gap. This gap typically makes it hard to link runtime measures (e.g., execution traces) to design models. The approach presented in this paper avoids this semantic gap by making it possible to execute UML design models directly on embedded microcontrollers. Therefore, any runtime measure is directly expressed in terms of the design model. The paper introduces our UML bare-metal (i.e., not requiring an operating system) interpreter. Its use is illustrated on a motivating example, which can be simulated, or debugged, and for which message sequence charts can be generated.