Feature Technology and Ontology for Embedded System Design and Development

In this paper, we present our recent effort on using feature technology and ontology for embedded systems modeling and design. We present an overview of embedded system design and propose an object-oriented UML modeling approach to representing embedded systems, i.e., open embedded system model (OESM). OESM supports models of embedded system artifacts, components, features, configuration/assembly, and embedded system platform and family, design rationale, etc. Our focus is on modeling of feature semantic in embedded systems. We call this open embedded system feature model (OESFM). We also present a semantic web environment for modeling and verifying feature models using ontologies, in which the Prote´ge´-OWL is used to precisely capture the relationships among features in feature diagrams and configurations. The OESFM models and ontologies provide a feature-based component collaborative framework. This allows the designer to develop a virtual embedded system prototype through assembling virtual components in which the platform-based HW/SW co-design is supported and the design rationale is captured. The collaborative co-design framework can not only provide formal precise models of the embedded system prototypes but also offers design variation of prototypes whose members are derived by changing certain virtual components with different features.