A DEVS–based End-to-end Methodology for Hybrid Control of Embedded Networking Systems

We present a formal Modeling and Simulation (M&S) methodology for hybrid control of networking systems. The method is used for analysis, design and implementation of Quality of Service (QoS) control systems in Network Processor (NP)-based applications. We apply continuous Control Systems Theory to enforce Admission Control strategies into discrete–event network traffic. This represents a hybrid system modeling problem, that has to be treated formally to guarantee the applicability of the continuous control theoretical results into discrete– event systems. We show that using DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification), in combination with Quantized State Systems (QSS) numerical methods for the approximation of continuous systems, offers numerous advantages: these frameworks provide the means to accurately analyze and design hybrid models for Admission Control and they can be seamlessly integrated into a unified formal framework. It also enables the transition between the DEVS–based simulation and the deployment of the obtained hybrid models into the target networking platform.