Core Elements of the Behavior Tree Notation
A behavior tree is used to formally represent the fragment of behavior in each individual requirement. Behavior for a large-scale system in general, where concurrency is admitted, appears abstractly as a set of communicating sequential processes. The Behavior Tree Notation captures these composed component-states in a simple tree-like form.
Behavior is expressed in terms of components realizing states and components creating and breaking relations. Using the logic and graphic forms of conventions found in programming languages, components can support actions, composition, events, control-flow, data-flow, and threads.
Traceability tags of Behavior Tree Notation in behavior tree nodes link the formal representation to the corresponding natural language requirement. Behavior trees accurately capture behavior expressed in the natural language representation of functional requirements. Requirements Behavior Trees strictly use the vocabulary of the natural language requirements but employ graphical forms for behavior composition in order to eliminate risk of ambiguity. By doing this they provide a direct and clearly traceable relationship between what is expressed in the natural language representation and its formal specification.
A basis of the notation is that behavior is always associated with some component. Component-states which represent nodes of behavior are composed sequentially or concurrently to construct a behavior tree that represents the behavior expressed in the natural language requirements. A behavior tree with leaf nodes may revert back (symbolized by adding the caret operator ^) to an ancestor node to repeat behavior, or start a new thread (symbolized by two carets ^^).
A Behavior Tree specifies state changes in components, how data and control is passed between components and how threads interact. There are constructs for creating and breaking relations. There are also constructs for setting and testing states of components as well as mechanisms for inter-process communication that include message passing (events), shared variable blocking and synchronization.