Parametric analysis of real time response guarantees on interacting software components

A method for defining timing relationships of components in a system at a system design level, said method comprising:

• defining component timing specifications at a system level and at a sub-system level;
• mathematically representing the timing specifications in a system model;
• and
• extracting constraints from the mathematical representations using a constraint extraction algorithm so as to define the timing relationships of various components and devices in the system.

A system for defining timing relationships of components in a system at a system design level, said method comprising:

• means for defining component timing specifications at a system level and at a sub-system level;
• means for mathematically representing the timing specifications in a system model;
• means for providing a constraint extraction algorithm that extracts timing constraints from the mathematical representations;
• means for using the constraint extraction algorithm to generate a plurality of linear equations that define the constraints;
• means for solving for real time constraint ranges from parameters in the linear equations;
• and
• means for selecting values from the real time constraint ranges to be used in the mathematical representations.