Timethread-role maps for object-oriented design of real-time-and-distributed systems

Object-oriented design methods and notations do not adequately address the concerns of real-time-and-distributed (RTD) systems. Issues critical to such systems, like performance, robustness, and concurrency are not seriously considered until detailed design. We propose an object-oriented approach that allows RTD design issues to be considered before detailed design. The approach revolves around timethread-role maps that present composite pictures of concurrent, interacting, end-to-end responsibility paths through a system. It is related to responsibility-driven design approaches, but extended for RTD systems. The paper illustrates by example how timethread-role maps can be used to explore, compare and explain different organizations for achieving the paths. The paper also illustrates how timethread-role maps may be used to represent dynamic structure.