The formal execution semantics of SpecC

We present a rigorous but transparent semantics definition of the SpecC language that covers the execution of SpecC behaviors and their interaction with the kernel process. The semantics include wait, wait for, par, and try statements as they are introduced in SpecC. We present our definition in form of distributed abstract state machine (ASM) rules strictly following the lines of the SpecC Language Reference Manual. We mainly see our formal semantics in three application areas. First, it is a concise, unambiguous description for documentation and standardization. Second, it applies as a high-level, pseudo code-oriented specification for the implementation of a SpecC simulator. Finally, it is a first step for SpecC synthesis in order to identify similar concepts with other languages like VHDL and SystemC for the definition of common patterns and language subsets.