POOSL is an acronym for Parallel Object-Oriented Specification Language. It is a system-level description langauge that has been used for modelling complex systems such as ATM packet switches (used by network providers to route vast amounts of information traffic) or a postal routing machine used for composing personalised mail packets. Other projects have been the validation of an automatic protection switching (APS) protocol, and verification of part of the Mascara protocol. We are currently working on several other large case-studies such as a memory controller and design exploration for multiprocessor multimedia platforms.
POOSL has a well-defined formal semantics which is a prerequisite for performance analysis and verification. But don't be alarmed! Although POOSL is formal in many ways, this does not mean that is difficult to use. In fact, quite the opposite is true. If you are already familiar with programming languages, you will find that POOSL is an easy to learn, clear and easy to use language. A model programmed in POOSL can be an invaluable tool to demonstrate and discuss complex systems.
With the SHESim tool that you can download and use for free, you will be able to experiment with POOSL. When you get more excited and experienced with it, you may wish to create prototypes or fast executable models. For that trajectory we offer a compiler that maps POOSL to C++, and an execution engine (both can be found here).
Tour along the various features of POOSL: