Complementing testing of IEC61499 function blocks with model-checking

IEC 61499 is a popular standard for distributed control systems. It uses a graphical, application-centric design approach by composition of function blocks. After the design the system is usually partitioned and mapped to the available devices. The required communication between these devices is handled by the runtime and/or the target implementation and is, hence, transparent to the development process. This paper proposes an approach that complements traditional testing of IEC 61499 function blocks with model-checking. To that end, an automated translation approach is presented that details the generation of models for the popular Uppaal model-checker. The usefulness of the taken approach is elaborated by investigating the test of a segment of a modern building automation system.