Timing analysis and validation with UML: the case of the embedded MARS bus manager

This paper presents a case study in UML-based modeling and validation of the intricate timing aspects arising in a small but complex component of the airborne Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance System produced by the Netherlands National Aerospace Laboratory. The purpose is to show how automata-based timing analysis and verification tools can be used by field engineers for solving isolated hard points in a complex real-time design, even if the press-button verification of entire systems remains a remote goal. We claim that the accessibility of such tools is largely improved by the use of an UML profile with intuitive features for modeling timing and related properties.