From RM-ODP to the Formal Behavior Representation

In this work we consider the behavioral aspects of system modeling. In order to specify the behavior of a system, many different notations can be used. Quite often, different terms in these notations are related to the same element in a system implementation. In order to relate these terms and guarantee the consistency between different notations, a standard framework should be used. In this work we show how the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) can be used for the purpose of the mapping of terms from different behavioral notations. RM-ODP behavior models are based on the concept of Time Specific Action. Time Specific Actions represent directly things that happen in the Universe of Discourse with explicit reference to time. However the explicit reference to time leads to a considerable loss of abstractness. To elevate the level of abstraction we have considered Time Abstracted RM-ODP models where concrete time information is omitted. We used Time Abstracted RM-ODP models to show the correspondence between terms in UML Activity Diagrams, UML Statechart Diagrams and CCS process algebra by means of relating them with RM-ODP terms. This allows us to consider RM-ODP as a possible meta-model for behavior specifications written in UML. It can help to insure the consistency of UML models.