On requirements engineering for reactive systems: a formal methodology

Abstract

This paper introduces a rigorous methodology for requirements specification of systems that react to external stimulus and consequently evolve through different operational modes, providing, in each of them, different functionalities. The proposed methodology proceeds in three stages, enriching a simple state- machine with local algebraic specifications. It resorts to an expressive variant of hybrid logic which is latter translated into first-order to allow for ample automatic tool support.