PiXL: Applying xml standards to support the integration of analysis tools for protocols

This paper presents our experiences on using xml technologies and standards for the integration of analysis tools for protocols. The core proposal consists in the design of a new xml-based language named PiXL (Protocol Interchange using xml Languages), responsible for interchanging the whole specification of the protocol (data and control) among different existing tools. The structure and flexibility of xml has proven to be very useful when implementing new tools such as abstract model checkers. In addition, the suitability of the proposal has been applied to achieve a new kind of analysis, where PiXL and new mda methodologies have been proposed to build integrated environments for reliability and performance analysis of Active Network protocols.