Executable Behavioral Models in Model-based Systems Engineering using Capella

Abstract

Methodologies and tools for model-based systems engineering often not only support the specification of a system's structure, but also its behavior. Behavioral diagrams such as state machines and sequence diagrams allow the description of mode-dependent behavior and interaction scenarios, respectively. The key characteristic of these behavioral diagrams is their inherent dynamic nature which allows them to be executed. Having tool support for execution can promote a better understanding of the system, allows consistency checking, and even enables the application of verification techniques. In this paper, we present an add-on for the open-source MBSE tool Capella supporting the execution of state machines, either manually or driven by scenarios. The add-on is targeted towards facilitating the integration of approaches for checking the consistency and correctness of the modeled system.