Model-based integration

The integration of different development activities and artifacts into a single coherent system is a major challenge for the development of complex embedded real-time systems. For complex software the functional integration alone is a major undertaking, in the case of embedded real-time systems we in addition have to cope with all the affected system characteristics such as real-time behavior, resource consumption, and behavior in the case of failures. In this chapter we will discuss the state-of-the-art of model-based integration. Therefore, we will clarify the terminology concerning integration, provide a classification of the integration challenges for complex embedded real-time systems, and outline the fundamental techniques employed to cope with the integration challenges. This framework is then used to explain the current standard practice concerning integration of hardware and software for functional development as well as function integration. Furthermore, a num ber of advanced proposal how to address some of the remaining integration challenges such as AUTOSAR and Mechatronic UML using model-based concepts are presented using the framework.