A Language for Deterministic Coordination across Multiple Timelines

Author(s): Marten Lohstroh, Christian Menard, Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten, Matthew Weber, Jeronimo Castrillon, and Edward A. Lee

Abstract
We discuss a novel approach for constructing deter- ministic reactive systems that evolves around a temporal model which incorporates a multiplicity of timelines. This model is cen- tral to LINGUA FRANCA (LF), a polyglot coordination language and compiler toolchain we are developing for the definition and composition of concurrent components called Reactors, which are objects that react to and emit discrete events. What sets LF apart from other languages that treat time as a first-class citizen is that it confronts the issue that in any reactive system there are at least two distinct timelines involved; a logical one and a physical one—and possibly multiple of each kind. LF provides a mechanism for relating events across timelines, and guarantees deterministic program behavior under quantifiable assumptions.

Electronic Downloads

• https://ptolemy.berkeley.edu/publications/papers/20/Lohstroh_etAl_FDL20.pdf

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Citation Formats

• APA
  

                  
  Marten Lohstroh, Christian Menard, Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten, Matthew Weber, Jeronimo Castrillon, and Edward A. Lee. (2020). A Language for Deterministic Coordination across Multiple Timelines. In Forum on Design Languages (FDL).                       
                  
                  

• MLA
  

                  
  Marten Lohstroh, Christian Menard, Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten, Matthew Weber, Jeronimo Castrillon, and Edward A. Lee. "A Language for Deterministic Coordination across Multiple Timelines." Forum on Design Languages (FDL), 2020.                       
                  
                  

• Chicago
  

                  
  Marten Lohstroh, Christian Menard, Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten, Matthew Weber, Jeronimo Castrillon, and Edward A. Lee. "A Language for Deterministic Coordination across Multiple Timelines." Forum on Design Languages (FDL), 2020.                       
                  
                  

• BibTeX
  

                      
  @inproceedings{LohstrohEtAl:20:LinguaFranca,
  	author = {Marten Lohstroh, Christian Menard, Alexander Schulz-Rosengarten, Matthew Weber, Jeronimo Castrillon, and Edward A. Lee},
  	title = {A Language for Deterministic Coordination across Multiple Timelines},
  	booktitle = {Forum on Design Languages (FDL)},
  	month = {September},
  	year = {2020},
  	abstract = {We discuss a novel approach for constructing deter- ministic reactive systems that evolves around a temporal model which incorporates a multiplicity of timelines. This model is cen- tral to LINGUA FRANCA (LF), a polyglot coordination language and compiler toolchain we are developing for the definition and composition of concurrent components called Reactors, which are objects that react to and emit discrete events. What sets LF apart from other languages that treat time as a first-class citizen is that it confronts the issue that in any reactive system there are at least two distinct timelines involved; a logical one and a physical one—and possibly multiple of each kind. LF provides a mechanism for relating events across timelines, and guarantees deterministic program behavior under quantifiable assumptions.},
  	URL = {https://ptolemy.berkeley.edu/publications/papers/20/Lohstroh_etAl_FDL20.pdf}}