SWSL: a synthetic workload specification language for real-time systems

We discuss the issues that must be addressed in the specification and generation of synthetic workloads for distributed real-time systems. We describe a synthetic workload specification language (SWSL) that defines a workload in a form that can be compiled by a synthetic workload generator (SWG) to produce an executable synthetic workload. The synthetic workload is then downloaded to the target machine and executed while performance and dependability measurements are made. SWSL defines the workload at the task level using a data flow graph, and at the operation level using control constructs and synthetic operations taken from a library. It is intended to be easy to use, flexible, and capable of creating synthetic workloads that are representative of real-time workloads. It provides a compact, parameterized notation. It supports automatic replication of objects to facilitate the specification of large workloads for distributed real-time systems. It also provides extensive support for the experimentation process