Model-based Computing: Using Concurrent Constraint Programming for Modeling and Model Compilation

Markus P.J. Fromherz, Vijay A. Saraswat

Abstract

Writing software for simulating, controlling or diagnosing real-world physical devices is non-trivial, as it requires encoding the complex interactions of device components and processes. Model-based computing is an approach to developing such software that employs multi-use declarative machine descriptions to derive information from which machine software can be constructed automatically. Specifically, we have been using this approach to develop code for scheduling reprographic machines.

We discuss the modeling of hardware components for scheduling purposes using concurrent constraint programming. We show how standard symbolic manipulation techniques such as partial evaluation and abduction can be used to process these models into a form that is directly compilable into procedural (C++) code and usable within a conventional software architecture.

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