Modeling Time in Computing: A Taxonomy and a Comparative Survey

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive taxonomy and comparative survey of formal approaches to modeling and analyzing temporal aspects in computing systems, covering traditional to modern formalisms.

Contribution

It introduces a unifying framework for evaluating time modeling formalisms and offers a detailed comparison across key dimensions, aiding understanding for both specialists and non-specialists.

Findings

Provides a structured taxonomy of time modeling formalisms

Highlights differences and similarities among various approaches

Offers insights into the evolution of temporal modeling in computing

Abstract

The increasing relevance of areas such as real-time and embedded systems, pervasive computing, hybrid systems control, and biological and social systems modeling is bringing a growing attention to the temporal aspects of computing, not only in the computer science domain, but also in more traditional fields of engineering. This article surveys various approaches to the formal modeling and analysis of the temporal features of computer-based systems, with a level of detail that is suitable also for non-specialists. In doing so, it provides a unifying framework, rather than just a comprehensive list of formalisms. The paper first lays out some key dimensions along which the various formalisms can be evaluated and compared. Then, a significant sample of formalisms for time modeling in computing are presented and discussed according to these dimensions. The adopted perspective is, to some extent, historical, going from "traditional" models and formalisms to more modern ones.