Redesign of a Systems Engineering Language: Formalisation of χ

Abstract

Abstract. This paper describes the redesign of a systems engineering language called χ. This is an engineering language designed to specify and analyse industrial systems. The main objective of this redesign was to enable mathematical reasoning about χ specifications. We discuss the original χ language, the requirements and design decisions, and the resulting syntax and semantics of the new version of χ, called χ. In particular, we elaborate on semantical aspects of χ’s time model.