A Model-Based Approach for Timing Analysis of Industrial Automation Systems

This paper presents a temporal characterization for automation systems. The final goal is to achieve a whole model in which a schedulability analysis could be applied in order to assure that this kind of systems meet timing non-functional requirements of the application. This work is performed in the context of a Model Driven Development approach. The definition of three Domain Specific Models: control specification, and hardware and software architectures, is the base for the whole model. In particular, the software domain model uses the XML interface defined by PLCopen for expressing IEC 61131-3 automation projects. The information contained in the model of the application is processed to generate the temporal model of the automation system. A specific transformation of this model makes possible to carry out a schedulability analysis of the system. In particular, this is achieved by generating the specific input model of the well-known Modelling and Analysis Suite for Real-Time Applications, MAST.