Systematic development of hybrid systems

Abstract

This extended abstract gives an overview over the results achieved in the author’s PhD thesis on the systematic development of hybrid embedded systems. An idealized development process for hybrid, i.e. mixed discrete and continuous, embedded systems is presented and used to point out where the results of the thesis support the development of hybrid systems. Besides the proposal of the development process itself, the thesis’ results fall into three main categories. First, graphical notations with a precise mathematical semantics supporting an integrated view on hybrid systems are developed. Second, methods for the stepwise refinement of hybrid systems described with the proposed notations are elaborated. This in particular includes methods for moving from an abstract continuous time scale to an implementation oriented discrete time scale in a way which preserves essential system properties. Third, properties of hybrid systems are formalized, classified and put in relation to known classes of properties in computer science. This also uncovers and formalizes parallels between proof methods known in control theory and methods from computer science. Thereby the thesis fosters a deeper understanding of hybrid systems by computer scientists.