American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2017; 5(6): 54-59 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajesa doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20170506.13 ISSN: 2376-6069 (Print); ISSN: 2376-6085 (Online) Towards a Meta-Model for Real-Time Embedded Systems Soukaina Moujtahid, Abdessamad Belangour, Abdelaziz Marzak Faculty of Science Ben M‘Sik, University Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco Email address: soukainamoujtahid@gmail.com (S. Moujtahid) To cite this article: Soukaina Moujtahid, Abdessamad Belangour, Abdelaziz Marzak. Towards a Meta-Model for Real-Time Embedded Systems. American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications. Vol. 5, No. 6, 2017, pp. 54-59. doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20170506.13 Received: December 5, 2017; Accepted: December 18, 2017; Published: January 11, 2018 Abstract: Embedded real-time systems are combinations of hardware and software fully integrated into the systems they control. Due to the continuous technological evolution in the hardware and software and the diversity of the targeted areas of application, these systems have become omnipresent in our professional and personal lives. Thus, various approaches based on model driven engineering (MDE) have been proposed in order to control the inefficiency of the methods of their current design. Each of these approaches has its own meta-model and its corresponding UML profile, specialized or adapted to a particular category of these systems. Indeed, in this paper we will propose a generic meta-model, taking advantage of a large number of these meta-models, which can be adapted to the majority of embedded real-time systems. Keywords: Real-Time Embedded System, MDE, Meta-Model 1. Introduction Embedded real-time systems are now omnipresent in various fields. Their intelligence makes them more and more indispensable [17]. They are, however, characterized by complexity arising from their specific characteristics and the high industrial constraints to which they are subjected. To master this complexity, various software abstractions have been implemented [18]. The abstraction offered by model driven engineering (MDE) provides an adequate framework for mastering this complexity. It is a new discipline of software engineering that advocates the massive use of models throughout the software development process. Thus, various approaches based on the MDE have been created by proposing their own process of development of the embedded real-time systems [6]. Our research work lies within of this problem. We aim to propose a new model-based development process for embedded real-time systems. To this end, we have begun by characterizing these systems. We have tried to collect the characteristics of these systems which distinguish them from other computer systems. Then, we studied the different development processes based on models proposed for these systems while carrying out a comparative and detailed analysis of the most well-known meta-models. The aim object of this article is a generic meta-model taking advantage of these different meta-models. Thus, this paper is structured in four parts: The first gives a general view on embedded real-time systems and more precisely on their characteristics. The second part presents the integration of the MDE in the process of development of embedded real-time systems via a panorama of the most known meta-models and on which we were based to create a generic meta-model. This last one which will be the subject of the third section and finally the fourth section concludes with a synthesis of the paper. 2. Characterization of Embedded Real-Time Systems A real-time system is a computer system to control the behavior of a physical process to which it is connected [1]. To do this, a real-time system consists essentially of a software application controlling the process, a hardware and/or software execution support executing this application, sensors supplying the input data of this application, and actuators executing the orders produced by this application. The application, the execution platforms, the sensors and the actuators are then embedded. They are buried in the process to which they are connected [2]. Embedded systems are combinations of hardware and software [1] completely