Model-Driven Development of Embedded Real-Time Systems

19 Our research centre was recently invited to participate in an industrial gathering on 'Systematic Testing' of embedded systems in Berlin, together with approximately eighty industrial participants from various sectors all over Europe ranging from the automotive industry, avionics, control systems and consumer electronics. It was observed that although these sectors vary in their technical intricacies and level of safety and reliability requirements, many common challenges exist. These include the everincreasing size and complexity of software, demands for reduced time to market, and rapid changes in technology. At the same time we observed a change in attitude reflecting a decreased tolerance for errors, even towards zero-defects. This is also true of sectors beyond conventional safety-critical software. It is no longer accepted that systems will 'by nature' contain a certain number of errors and that the purpose of testing is to eliminate the worst of them. Quality systems are not allowed to misbehave, and certainly not in any way that users would notice. In combination, these developments make conventional quality assurance and testing techniques ineffective and too expensive.