Model-based development of distributed embedded controllers - rapid prototyping using IOPT-tools and FPGAs -

Adoption of a model-based development attitude can benefit the design of distributed embedded controllers, allowing adequate support for designer's needs integrating reusability of already available components, as well as design automation tools. Selection of Petri nets as reference modeling formalism provides support for a comprehensive specification and documentation of the system, complementing graphical expressiveness with formal verification capabilities. A Petri nets based development flow targeted for the design of distributed embedded controllers and cyber-physical systems is presented. Input-Output Place-Transition Petri nets (IOPT nets) are used as the underlying formalism, allowing explicit representation of dependencies on input and output signals and events (as common whenever generation of code for controllers is foreseen). Distributed execution is addressed adding the concept of time domains and communication channels to IOPT nets. The IOPTTools tool chain framework supports the whole development process from specification to implementation, including tools for model edition, simulation, properties verification, and automatic code generation targeting for deployment into specific implementation platforms (where VHDL coding is used for hardware-based implementation and C coding is selected for software-oriented implementation).