Modular Code Generation from Triggered and Timed Block Diagrams

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

In previous work we have shown how modular code can be automatically generated from a synchronous block diagram notation where all blocks fire at all times. Here, we extend this work to triggered and timed diagrams, where some blocks fire only when their trigger is true, or at statically specified times. We show that, although triggers can be eliminated, this is not desirable since it destroys modularity and may also result in rejecting some diagrams that could be accepted. To avoid this we propose a modular code generation method that directly accounts for triggers. We also propose methods specialized to timed diagrams. Although timed diagrams are special cases of triggered diagrams, treating them directly allows us to obtain efficient code. We achieve this by enriching the interface of a macro block with firing time information and using this information to avoid firing the block unnecessarily. Existing firing time representations are generally conservative, in the sense that they cannot represent the exact set of firing times of a macro block, but a super-set. To remedy this, we devise a novel and accurate (exact) representation. This representation uses finite automata and is amenable to algebraic manipulation and generation of efficient code.