The aim of this work is to develop a formal apparatus that defines the elements composing software-hardware computer systems and the relations between them. The basic tools come from Systems Theory, Mathematical Logic, Operating Systems and Computer Architecture. Two sound engineering principles are fundamental in the formal apparatus: hierarchical organization and elimination of time dependent malfunctions (like race conditions in hardware and mutual exclusion in software). All the basic elements in a computer system are identified as 'singletons.' Typical singletons are: (sequential) user programs, (concurrent) operating systems, virtual machines and hardware machines. A computer system is just a set of inter-related singletons. Velocity and transparency are defined and used as a measure of the quality of a hierarchy. Computer systems are analyzed as directed graphs (singletons being the nodes), and directions for research in optimal structuring are suggested. Singletons are analyzed as a hierarchy of spaces (low level, high level, assertions) and the mappings between them (compiler, programmer). Finally, a real time, special-purpose multiprocessor system (ECOS) is described and analyzed within this formal framework.
Luis Manuel Medina-Vaillard (Fri,) studied this question.