Duration Calculus

Real-time systems are systems in which temporal properties are essential for reliability and correctness. Examples of systems where correctness and reliability are important for safety reasons include control systems for cars, trains and air planes. In devices such as washing machines, DVD players and mobile phones the correctness and reliability of the embedded real-time computing systems are important for economical reasons as it is expensive to repair errors after the production phase. Duration Calculus is an interval logic having special features for expressing and analysing time durations of states in real-time systems. Duration Calculus represents a formal approach to the development of real-time systems, where requirements and designs can be expressed and reasoned about at an appropriate level of abstraction. This book presents the logical foundations of Duration Calculus in a coherent and thorough manner and through selective case studies it expains how Durations Calculus can be applied to formal specification and verification of real-time systems. The book also contains an extensive survey of the research on Duration Calculus. Material included in the book has been used for M.Sc. and Ph.D. courses, but the book is also valuable for experienced researchers and professionals.