DETECTION OF CYCLE IN REAL-TIME SYSTEM SPECIFICATION

Most methods for supporting specifications of real-time systems follows a data flow-oriented approach. These methods provide a system model using a direct graph containing processes (represented by the graph nodes) interconnected by data flows (represented by the graph arcs). In order to guarantee a successful system execution, the specification graph must be free of cycles among processes. This paper presents an approach that detects cycles in specifications prepared through a data flow-oriented approach. The approach was adopted in the construction of a software tool, and was demonstrated to be very effective. Compared to other methods for detecting cycles in graphs, the advantages of this approach are mainly concerned with easy understanding and handling, as well as a flexible and efficient implementation.