Report Number: CSL-TR-86-298
Institution: Stanford University, Computer Systems Laboratory
Title: Parallel program behavior - specification and abstraction using BDL
Author: Yan, Jerry C.
Date: August 1986
Abstract: This paper describes the syntax, semantics, and usage of BDL
- a Behavior Description Language for concurrent programs.
BDL program models can be used to describe and abstract the
behavior of real programs formulated in various computation
paradigms (such as CSP, remote procedures, data-flow, actors,
etc.). BDL models are constructed from abstract computing
entities known as "players". The models can behave as closely
as possible to the actual program in terms of message
passing, player creation and cpu usage. Although behavior
abstraction using BDL only involves identifying the
"redundant part" of the computation and replacing them with
simple "NO-OP" statements, proper application of this
technique remains difficult and requires a thorough
understanding of how the program is architectured. Simulating
BDL models is much more economical than instruction level
emulation while program behavior is realistically preserved.
http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/csl/tr/86/298/CSL-TR-86-298.pdf