An Estelle-C Compiler for Automatic Protocol Implementation

Over the past few years, much experience has been gained in semi-automatic protocol implementation using an existing Estelle-C compiler developed at the University of British Columbia. However, with the continual evolution of the Estelle language, that compiler is now obsolete. The present study found substantial syntactic and semantic differences between the Estelle language as implemented by the existing compiler and that specified in the latest ISO document to warrant the construction of a new Estelle-C compiler. The result is a new compiler which translates Estelle as defined in the second version of the ISO Draft Proposal 9074 into the programming language C. The new Estelle-C compiler addresses issues such as dynamic reconfiguration of modules snd maintenance of priority relationships among nested modules. A run-time environment capable of supporting the new Estelle features is also presented. The implementation strategy used in the new Estelle-C compiler is illustrated by using the alternating bit protocol found in the ISO Draft Proposal 9074 document.