A METHOD FOR SPECIFYING A SYSTEM COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF INTERCONNECTED FUNCTIONAL MODULES EACH REPRESENTING A RESPECTIVE ABSTRACT-STATE BASED MACHINE, AND A SYSTEM SO SPECIFIED

摘要

A system is specified to comprise various interconnected functional modules at respective hierarchical levels. Each module represents an abstract state-based-machine. Each non-top level first module connects to a single second module at a next higher level by a transformer link from the second module for enabling a relevant change-of-state of the first module, by an observer link for a state enquiry signal from the second module, and by an event link for a solicited event signal to the second module. The first module retrosignals an internal autonomously executed step. Each non-bottom module enables one or more lower levels modules to function as such first module. A top module can exchange signals with an environment. A single step scheduler for the system renders autonomously executable each step in the first module that has been entered under control of a preconditioning transformer signal received from the second module.