Software design and implementation using the Real-Time Object-Oriented Modeling Language

The Real-Time Object-Oriented Modeling (ROOM) language (Selic et al., 1994) is of growing interest in the software engineering field because a ROOM toolset, ObjecTime (R), is now available. This toolset allows developers to create a graphic representation of the design of a system on a workstation and to then execute a discrete event simulation of the system. ROOM is promoted as a method ideally suited to the design of systems with one or more of the characteristics of timeliness, dynamic internal structure, reactiveness, concurrency and distribution. Computing Devices Canada has used the ROOM language to implement a telephone subsystem and a radio access subsystem as part of the MESHnet product line. Both subsystems exhibit four of the above characteristics. This paper describes our experiences using ROOM for these applications.