Assured and correct dynamic update of controllers

Abstract

In many application domains, continuous operation is a desirable attribute for software-intensive systems. As the environment or system requirements change, so the system should change and adapt without stopping or unduly disturbing its operation. There is, therefore, a need for sound engineering techniques that can cope with dynamic change. In this paper we address the problem of dynamic update of controllers in reactive systems when the specification (environment assumptions, requirements and interface) of the current system changes. We present a general approach to specifying correctness criteria for dynamic update and a technique for automatically computing a controller that handles the transition from the old to the new specification, assuring that the system will reach a state in which such a transition can correctly occur. Indeed, using controller synthesis we show how to automatically build a controller that guarantees both progress towards update and safe update. Seven case studies have been implemented to validate the approach.