A framework for simulate synchronous reactive programs and measure execution times to aid WCET analysis

Obtaining Worst Case Execution Time (WCET) is essential for systems with timing requirement. This is because the violation of such requirement may lead to catastrophic results in safety critical systems. WCET can be acquired through static or dynamic analyses. With static analysis, it is less obvious to observe the timing behaviors of the analyzed system during its actual execution. While dynamic analysis, such as measuring execution times, lacks of theoretical foundation to ensure the specified properties. It is essential to perform the static and dynamic analyses for the same hardware configuration to have consistent results and meaningful feedback. It is equally essential to have both analysis perform on the same analysis framework for the same reason. In this paper, we are presenting an approach of dynamic analysis through the use of a framework, named OSIM, which integrates the processor simulator and input-stimuli generator. OSIM is based on OTAWA, a static timing analysis framework, and is able to give feedback to OTAWA for the refinements of the static analysis.