Abstract
Real-Time Systems and in particular Embedded Systems have been known to be built as works of art until recently. Nowadays standard hardware components are being used and scalable standardized operating systems are being built. There have been many attempts for simplification of design of these systems through the use of standard mechanisms and components, but many have failed due to the specific nature of their applications. In the article a standard-based approach to the specification of hardware and software configuration of embedded real-time systems is described. It is based on the DIN standard 66 253, Part 3: PEARL for Distributed systems [13] and customized for use in hard real-time embedded applications — "Specification PEARL". A specification language is presented in its BNF notation as well as the graphical notation with the same expressing power which was derived from it. The approach supports top down refinement. The specifications allow HW/SW co-design, consistency checking and provide a good foundation for the design phase of the system development cycle. In fact the design of software can be introduced from the specification where abstract software collections are identified and associated with stations of the system in a natural way.