# Research Infusion 2008

# Tool or Technology Information

**[Contact Information]{.underline}**

Name of Tool/Technology: PathMATE Transformation Engine (PMTE)

Name of Technology Provider: Pathfinder Solutions

Primary Point of Contact (PPC): Meghan Lorina

PPC Phone No.: 888-662-7284 x115

PPC e-mail: <meghanl@pathfindermda.com>

Alternate Contact Name (APC): Peter Fontana

APC Phone No.: 888-662-7284 x111

APC e-mail: <peterf@pathfindermda.com>

Technology Provider Website:
<http://www.pathfindermda.com/products/trans_engine.php>

Technology Provider Address: Pathfinder Solutions

33 Commercial Street, Suite 2

Foxboro, MA 02035

**[Tool/Technology Details]{.underline}**

Description of Tool/Technology: PathMATE transforms MDA
Platform-Independent Models (PIMs) directly into high-performance
embedded C, C++ & Java. Built as a native Eclipse environment and
integrated with leading UML modeling environments including Rational
Rose, RSM/RSD/RSA, Rhapsody and Topcased, PathMATE adds the capability
to generate high performance code, custom reports and a range of other
outputs supporting the development, test, debug and deployment of
embedded, real-time and other high-performance, high-reliability
systems. PathMATE is the most open and advanced code generation
environment, using an extensible, rules-based approach. Including the
Spotlight model-level debugging and automated test environment, PathMATE
delivers all the technology you need to construct, execute, test and
deliver your complex systems.

Commercial or Research Technology: Commercial

Associated Program:

Potential Benefits: PathMATE benefits include:

-   2X and higher productivity gains within 12 months **\***

-   10X quality improvements within 12 months **\***

-   Highest performance generated code: 1/3 code size, 7X faster
    **\*\***

-   Substantially higher project manageability

-   Much simpler models

-   Higher quality models (due to direct model test via execution)

-   Highly portable systems with rapid reconfigurability of target
    topology (task/processor)

-   Much higher reuse of large grained components, even across varying
    platforms (implementation language, target RTOS, target topology)

-   Automated production of custom system documentation

-   Completely open and extensible, standards-based

-   Highest performance code generation, rapid change/build/debug cycle

Please see product brochures for additional benefit details.

***\*** Quality and productivity improvements were reported by customer
projects comparing to similar, hand-coded components; results measures
within 12 months of initial MDA/PathMATE adoption; improvement reflects
a 90% reduction in defects reported at start of Component Integration
Test; productivity computations included all training and ramp-up time,
and rolled in any mentoring/consulting time/costs provided by Pathfinder
Solutions.*

*\*\* Generate code performance reported by DoD Joint program assessing
PathMATE vs. leading code-in-model tool; results reflect key performance
scenarios.*

PathMATE is directly applicable in a software assurance role. Projects
using PathMATE have documented a 10x quality improvement. PathMATE's
Spotlight is a directly applicable test automation technology. In
addition to the 10X quality improvement that had been seen, projects
adopting the MDA approach automated by PathMATE have reported 2X and
higher productivity gains, substantial improvements in manageability,
and produce systems with much longer-lived and flexible architectures.
Many of these benefits come from the sound application of the modeling
methodology that PathMATE supports, with key features in PathMATE which
reinforce and automate this method to ensure quality models.

Supported Platforms: Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, Cygwin, Win32, Win64, and
others

Required Inputs: PathMATE automates key aspects of platform-independent
modeling in the Unified Modeling Language (version 2). Tightly
integrated with leading UML2 modeling environments including Rational
Rose, RSM/RSD/RSA, Rhapsody and Topcased, PathMATE includes an XMI-based
conduit to convey your UML model (PIM) information from these
environments to the PathMATE Transformation Engine. Additional inputs
include PIM Marking information to help optimized the deployment of
target systems. PathMATE also provides full source for all code
generation transformation rules (to C, C++ and Java), allowing for the
sophisticated user to customize all aspects of code generation.
Likewise, full source is provided for all PathMATE run-time mechanisms
foundations (C, C++ and Java) so all aspects of run-time performance can
be controlled/customized, including easy adaptation to new target
environments. PathMATE's Spotlight model-level debugging and automated
test environment takes additional input in the form of Spotlight driver
files, allowing for complete, automated (and/or interactive),
model-level testing of deployed systems in target environments.

Outputs Produced: PathMATE's high speed automated code generation
produces complete, executable systems directly from platform independent
models. Deploying to a range of target environments with a host of
features from multi-task and multi-processor topologies to model level
debugging, PathMATE provides everything needed to quickly build, test
and integrate embedded, real-time, high performance components and
systems. This includes the automated generation for full source code for
modeled components, full-system makefiles and project files (for select
IDEs), custom template- and rule-based documentation (including
diagrams), data interchange files for instance data, model information
and other model-derived work products. PathMATE's Spotlight produces
instance data dump files from system run-time data, execution trace
files, and sequence charts in your editing environment (select UML
editors only).

**[Maturity Level]{.underline}**

Applied to Real Problems? Yes No

If Yes, Level of Success Achieved: While many complex, high performance
systems have been successful delivered using PathMATE, some of the more
illuminating projects that exemplify the unique benefits from PathMATE:

**Portable Scalable (Radar) Signal Processor**: A cross-program common
architecture (fractional) and infrastructure project to build a radar
signal processing approach and components based on platform-independent
modeling and PathMATE code generation technology that far exceeded the
run-time performance of existing hand-coded alternatives. Using
aggressive automation and deep adaptations to different unique
deployment target environments, this defense systems team showed the
performance potential of PathMATE applications, even while delivering
the manageability and (relative) simplicity of a properly modeled
application.

**Nuclear Plant Control System -- Embedded Central Controller**:
Building a new generation of their process control product line, the
customer applied PathMATE to develop the heart of their system. With the
system targeted to control critical aspects of a nuclear power plant,
the modeling processes and produced work products for this safety
critical system were subject to stringent industry standards.
Project-specific model-checking was developed with PathMATE rules
technology to automatically verify that all model constructs met a range
of safety-critical checks. Compliance coverage improved dramatically
with a virtual elimination of an entire class error-prone manual
inspection.

**SLAMRAAM JDNS Translation/Routing**: Integrating a defense missile
system with a range of outside systems, this system maps hundreds of
messages and thousands of data fields between the Joint Data Net/Subnet
protocol and additional SLAMRAAM-specific message sets. The eye-opening
wins on this project come from the incredible extensibility of PathMATE,
providing automation in reading proprietary message set/field
definitions, managing message mapping routing at the problem-space level
of abstraction, and generating large implementation code components (40k
SLOC) that would have otherwise been tediously hand crafted and
maintained.

**Ballistic Missile Defense -- Forward Based X-band -- Transportable**:
This complex, high performance system pioneered the application of
Dynamic Tasking in PathMATE. Successfully modeling highly sophisticated,
multi-stage target discernment processing and integrating it with the
complex mathematical library (non-modeled code) was a substantial
success. Then this team followed that up with an unprecedented
deployment of this capability onto a highly parallel multi-core target
environment. Using PathMATE they automatically generated code to
configure and manage dozens of threads of this target discernment
processing running on separate processing cores, yet all synchronized at
critical points. While a high level of run-time performance was
achieved, their ability to take the models and verify core functional
behavior before deploying multi-core target environment also improved
productivity substantially.

Already in Use within NASA? Yes No

If Yes, at what center(s):

**[Support]{.underline}**

User/Ref. Documentation Available: Yes

Phone Support Available: Yes

Is Tool/Technology Developer willing to support infusion effort? Yes No

**[Licensing]{.underline}**

Is Tool/Technology Developer willing to provide Evaluation Copy for
extended period of time? Yes No

**[Other Information]{.underline}**

PathMATE requires the use of a supported UML modeling environment. Our
most complete integration is with Rational Software Modeler and derived
tools (RSD, RSA) - it's a native Eclipse environment with a modern,
extensible architecture. We also support Rational Rose and Telelogic
Rhapsody. All of these tools require a license for evaluation, and
Pathfinder Solutions will be happy to facilitate getting these
environments set up for you. In addition, PathMATE is integrated with
the open source Topcased UML environment. While we encourage PathMATE
evaluations to be conducted on one the commercially supported UML
environments, depending on your technical and business drivers this may
be an option.