Enforcing software engineering tools interoperability: An example with AADL subsets

Model-Based Engineering is now a valuable asset to design complex real-time systems. Toolchains are assembled to cover the various stages of the process: high-level modeling, analysis and code generation. Yet tools put heterogeneous requirements on models: specific modeling patterns must be respected so that a given analysis is performed. This creates an interoperability paradox: models must be tuned not given system requirements, but to abide to tools capabilities. In this paper, we propose a systematic process to define the definition, comparison and enforcement of tools-specific subsets. Thus, we guide the user in selecting the tools that could support its engineering process. Our contribution is illustrated in the context of the AADL Architecture Design Language.