Generation of graphical interfaces for parallel real time applications based on source code

Abstract

The reduction in the cost of processors and the emergence of faster networks to connect them has enabled the construction of powerful parallel systems, capable of supporting applications which handle large volumes of data and demand high processing capacity. These systems have been used in an increasingly large number of areas, but, despite this, parallel programming has proved to be much more complex than sequential programming, mainly because it involves the need for synchronization between processes and the analysis of data dependence. To overcome this difficulty, Eonic Brasil created a graphical environment called VisualRT, the objective of which is to assist in the development, documentation and visualization of real time applications run on parallel machines. With this tool, the user develops a graphical model of the real time system capable of representing the parallelism and the temporal restrictions present in these systems. Based on this model, VisualRT automatically generates source code, builds the executable files and runs the application. Although VisualRT offers a high level interface for the management of parallel real time systems, the consumer market for the tool is composed mainly of companies that still have a significant quantity of applications developed through textual interfaces. So that these companies can have access to the advantages offered by VisualRT for the maintenance of their systems, they need an effective system to map out the textual interfaces in the equivalent graphical representation. The objective of the present proposal is the creation of a piece of software to automate this mapping. It should produce graphical representations of parallel real time systems based on the source code of these systems, freeing the user from the task of carrying out the conversion manually. (AU)