The SHIFT Programming Language and Run-time System for Dynamic Networks of Hybrid Automata

Abstract

Shift is a programming language for describing and simulating dynamic networks of hybrid automata. Such systems consist of components that can be created, interconnected and destroyed as the system evolves. Components exhibit hybrid behavior, consisting of continuous-time phases separated by discrete-event transitions. Components may evolve independently, or they may interact through selected state variables and events. The interaction network itself may evolve. Shift is currently used in two applications: automated highway systems and coordinated submarine systems. The Shift model offers the proper level of abstraction for describing these and other applications such as air traffic control systems and robotic shop-floors whose dynamic reconfigurations cannot be captured easily by conventional models. We have implemented a compiler and a run-time system for Shift. The compiler translates a Shift program into a C program, which, when run, simulates the design specified in the Shift s...