Prioritised slotted-Circus

Abstract

The main difference between a software and hardware design is that the hardware cannot be patched or updated after releasing. Also in the case of software, compilation and tests can be performed with the “click of a button”, whereas with hardware it often implies the creation of a very expensive prototype. In spite of all the differences, hardware designing methodology seems to be going in the direction of software. The reason for it might lay in the increasing size and complexity of hardware solutions, or the fact that FPGA technology allows rapid hardware prototyping and re-configuration. This work presents slotted-Circus, a process algebra based on Circus with the added notion of time, and its prioritised version prioritised slotted-Circus. The dependence between the restrictions on expressiveness of the priority, safety, and complexity of its behaviour is investigated. Finally, how prioritised slotted-Circus can be used for verification of Wireless Sensor Networks algorithms and in the area of the real time operating systems is presented.