Specifying time-sensitive systems with TLA+

Abstract : We present a pattern-based method to express time specifications in the language TLA+. A real-time module RealTimeNew is introduced to encapsulate the definitions of commonly used time patterns. We present a general framework to differentiate the temporal characterizations from system functionality with time constraints. The temporal specification is concise and provably as a refinement of its corresponding functional description without time. The method ameliorates the usability of TLA+ in specifying and verifying time-sensitive systems. A case study is harnessed to illustrate and validate the approach.