TimeBench

This paper provides an overview of TimeBench , a prototype CAD tool for designing real-time systems, as well as some experiences gained through building and using it. TimeBench aims to support a true engineering design process for real-time systems in a largely graphical working environment. The environment includes support for design synthesis, analysis, and system generation, with equal emphasis on the design of operational structure and the design of temporal behavior. Its main features include: (1) a hybrid graphical---textual design description notation ( MachineCharts, Abstract Controller Machines , and MachineChart Language ), (2) design experimentation through an embedded interpreter and behavior visualization tools to animate designs, (3) further design evaluation through a performance modelling tool based on fast approximate analystic methods, and (4) a code generation system than can be tailored to produce code for a desired environment.