Model-based Development of Embedded Systems: Executable Models vs. Code Generation

The use of models during the development of embedded systems is nowadays fairly limited. During the evolution of the system, the implementation and the design models often tend to get out of sync. The use of Model Driven Architecture in the development of embedded systems makes this problem more imminent, as it is much more demanding by introducing two separate modeling levels. Thus, there is a need to introduce techniques that overcome this problem. Complete code generation and the use of executable models potentially eliminate the need for a manual implementation that may get out of sync with the design models. We discuss important properties of such approaches and outline the advantages and possibilities of using a UML virtual machine in embedded systems.