Abstract

Abstract The traditional ways of developing embedded systems are pushed to their limits, largely due to the rapid increase of software in these systems. Developers now have difficulties to handle simultaneously all the factors involved in the development such as increasing complexity, limited and shared resources, distribution, timing or dependability issues. These limitations make the development of embedded systems a rather complex and time consuming task, and call for new solutions that can efficiently and predictably cope with the new specifics and requirements of embedded systems to ensure their final quality. Component-based software engineering is an attractive approach that aims at building software systems out of independent and well-defined pieces of software. This approach has already shown advantages in managing software complexity, and reducing production time while increasing software quality. However, directly applying component-based software engineering principles to embedded system development is not straightforward. It requires a considerable adaptation to fit the specifics of the domain, since guaranteeing the extra-functional aspects, such as real-time concerns, safety-criticality and resource limitations, is essential for the majority of embedded systems. Arguing that component-based software engineering is suitable for embedded system development, we introduce a component-based approach adjusted for embedded system development. This approach is centered around a dedicated component model, called ProCom, which through its two-layer structure addresses the different concerns that exist at different levels of abstraction. ProCom supports the development of loosely coupled subsystems together with small non-distributed functionalities similar to control loops. To handle the management of important concerns related to functional and extra-functional properties of embedded systems, we have extended ProCom with an attribute framework enabling a smooth integration of existing analysis techniques. We have also demonstrated the feasibility of the approach through a prototype realisation of an integrated development environment. i Résumé -Abstract in French Affrontant une rapide et massive introduction de logiciels, le monde des systèmes embarqués est en proie au changement. De ce fait, les méthodes traditionnelles de développement de ces systèmes atteignent leurs limites. Elles ont désormais des difficultésà gérer simultanément tous les paramètres impliqués dans le développement, tel que l'accroissement de la complexité, la limitation et le partage des ressources, la distribution, ainsi que les contraintes temporelles et de fiabilité. Ces limitations rendent le développement particulièrement complexe et coûteux, et requièrent de nouvelles solutions pouvant efficacement et de manière prévisible répondre aux nouveaux besoins des systèmes embarqués afin d'assurer leur qualité finale. L'ingénierie logicielle basée composants est une approche visantà la construction de systèmes logiciels par l'usage de "briques logicielles" indépendan-tes et parfaitement caractérisées. Cette approche a déjà démontré des aptitudes pour appréhender la complexité logicielle tout en réduisant les temps de production et maintenant la qualité. Pourtant appliquer directement les principes de l'ingénierie logicielle basée composants au développement de systèmes embarqués n'est pas simple et nécessite une adaptation considérable pour se conformer aux exigences du domaine, telles que la limitation des resources et les contraintes temps réel et de criticité. Convaincus que l'ingénierie logicielle basée composants convient au déve-loppement des systèmes embarqués, nous introduisons une approche basée composants dediée au développement de systèmes embarqués. Cette approche s'appuie sur ProCom, un modèle de composants spécifique qui au travers de sa structuration en deux niveaux concerne les propriétés présentesà différents niveaux d'abstractions. ProCom supporte le développement de sous-systèmes iii iv faiblement couplés conjointement avec de petites fonctionnalités non distribuées analogues aux boucles rétroactives. Dans le but d'assurer la gestion des aspects ayant trait aux propriétés fonctionnelles et extra-fonctionnelles, nous avonsétendu ProCom au travers d'un "attribute framework" facilitant l'intégration de techniques d'analyses préexistantes. La faisabilité de l'approche estégalement démontrée via la réalisation d'un prototype d'environnement de développement intégré. Acknowledgements Looking back at my past, nothing predestined me to do a thesis and even less in Sweden, a country that I would have never envisaged to live in ("it is too cold up there !!!"). But the course of my life completely changed thanks to Nicolas Belloir, who put his trust in me and always tried to pushed me forward, smoothly enough to manage to make me accept a PhD position at Mälardalen University. I cannot say how much I am thankful to you for this: you are a great friend! But this adventure would not have been possible nor been as enjoyable either without the intervention of many people. To begin with, I would like to express my gratitude towards two of my supervisors, Ivica Crnkovic and Hans Hansson. Thank you for believing in me and accepting me as a PhD student despite my hesitating Frenglish way of speaking. I am always amazed by your enthusiasm, commitment and above all your inexplicable capacity to work so much. Many thanks also go to my other supervisor, Jan Carlson, for all the fruitful discussions, inputs, reviews, help and guidance every time I needed it. I also want to thank my French supervisors, Frank Barbier and Eric Cariou, who have given me the opportunity to do a so-called "co-tutelle" with the university of Pau. Many thanks also go to the "Mental Department" that many have tried to enter but few have managed, ProPhs and associated members (Cristina, Stefan/Bob, Hüs, Tibi, Adnan, Aida, Aneta, Luis, Batu, Farhang, Hongyu, Pasqualina, Juraj, Mikael, Antonio, Ana, Luka, Leo, Marcelo, Jagadish) for all the laughters and great moments during the fika, lunches and travels. You are really great people to work with, and above all great friends. And of course, I don't forget all the PROGRESS and/or IDT