AADL: A Language to Specify the Architecture of Cyber-Physical Systems

This chapter is devoted to formalisms for describing system architectures, and in particular to the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL). AADL is an Architecture Description Language (ADL) well suited for the modelling of embedded and cyber-physical systems. The architecture is central in Multi- Paradigm modelling for Cyber-Physical Systems as it provides a description of the overall system and the environment into which it will operate. From such description, other models of other languages and formalisms such as those described in this book can be generated and augmented to study other aspects of the system, which is essential for its validation and verification. After a brief introduction to ADLs and their role in MPM4CPS, the AADL will be presented and its use illustrated with the modelling, analysis and code generation for a simple Lego Mindstorm robot for carrying objects in a warehouse. A simple top-down architecture-centric design process will be followed starting from the capture of stakeholder goals and system requirements followed by system design, design analysis and verification and finally automated code generation.