Towards Integrated Model-Driven Testing of SCADA Systems Using the Eclipse Modeling Framework and Modelica

Abstract

Testing SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) near real-time systems is challenging, as it involves complex interactions and the simulation of the supervised and controlled environment. Model-driven testing techniques can help to achieve clarity about the inner workings of the system and facilitate test construction, but these models are currently disconnected from those of the environmental simulation, leading to a paradigm break. This paper presents a strategy to remedy this situation. To this end, it leverages Modelica and the Eclipse Modeling Framework. Modelica is an object-oriented mathematical modeling language for component-oriented modeling of complex physical systems. It is an open standard and implementation, and provides a rendering of its input language in Ecore, the meta-language of the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). It also offers convenient visual editors, whose notation via the Modelica ML profile is consistent with the SysML standard, a restricted version of UML The strategy presented here leverages EMF as a common basis for model-driven development, reusing Modelica's powerful simulation features in integration with a custom-designed testing process. With this tooling, a test engineer can model all aspects of a SCADA test within one workbench and enjoy full traceability between the proprietary test model, and its surrounding environment simulation.