An XSLT-Based Proposal to Ease Embedded Critical Systems Tools Implementation, Verification, Validation, Testing, and Certification Efforts

• Published in: IEEE embedded systems letters Vol. 15; no. 3; p. 1
• Main Authors: Germino, Santiago, Menendez, Martin N., Lutenberg, Ariel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01-09-2023; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Automatic code generation; Certification; Codes; Data models; Domain specific languages; embedded critical systems; Human error; Programming languages; Rail transportation; Safety; Source code; Unified modeling language; Verification; verification and validation; XML; XSLT
• ISSN: 1943-0663; 1943-0671
• DOI: 10.1109/LES.2022.3221810

Implementing embedded critical system tools using general-purpose programming languages usually challenges conformance to relevant standards. This letter proposes implementing tools that manipulate a system model expressed in XML using the Extensive Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) and related technologies playing specific roles in a particular sequence developed to ease verification, validation, testing, and certification efforts. XSLT is a data-centric, domain-specific language that produces a more straightforward tool implementation, thus reducing human errors. We will introduce the proposal by reviewing, as an example, the reimplementation of a tool initially written in Python that automatically generates the VHDL source code of an embedded critical system. Finally, we will compare both implementations, noting compelling results.