The Formal Design Model of an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)

Abstract

An Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is a safety-critical and real-time system that is highly complicated in design and implementation. This paper presents the formal design, specification, and modeling of the ATM system using a denotational mathematics known as Real-Time Process Algebra (RTPA). The conceptual model of the ATM system is introduced as the initial requirements for the system. The architectural model of the ATM system is created using RTPA architectural modeling methodologies and refined by a set of Unified Data Models (UDMs), which share a generic mathematical model of tuples. The static behaviors of the ATM system are specified and refined by a set of Unified Process Models (UPMs) for the ATM transition processing and system supporting processes. The dynamic behaviors of the ATM system are specified and refined by process priority allocation, process deployment, and process dispatch models. Based on the formal design models of the ATM system, code can be automatically generated using the RTPA Code Generator (RTPA-CG), or be seamlessly transformed into programs by programmers. The formal models of ATM may not only serve as a formal design paradigm of real-time software systems, but also a test bench for the expressive power and modeling capability of exiting formal methods in software engineering.