Reactive Systems Group

Stream-Based Monitoring with RTLola

BIB

@article{BAUMEISTER2026103495,
	title = {Stream-Based Monitoring with RTLola},
	journal = {Science of Computer Programming},
	pages = {103495},
	year = {2026},
	issn = {0167-6423},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scico.2026.103495},
	url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167642326000614},
	author = {Jan Baumeister and Bernd Finkbeiner and Florian Kohn and Frederik Scheerer},
	keywords = {Runtime Monitoring, Specification, Cyber-Physical Systems},
	abstract = {Stream-based monitoring is a runtime assurance technique that checks a system’s behavior against a formal specification during execution, using a dedicated software or hardware component known as a monitor. RTLola is a stream-based specification language with an extensive software framework for the fully automatic construction of monitors. Constructing runtime monitors is challenging due to their frequent use in safety-critical and embedded systems. Monitors must be correct by construction, free of runtime errors, and operate within bounded memory limits independent of execution duration. To accelerate their adoption, they should also be easily adaptable and integrable into the target systems. This paper provides an overview of the RTLola software framework, which addresses these challenges through static specification analyses and a configurable API. We illustrate its use and implementation, and discuss the tool’s practical impact.}
}

Stream-based monitoring is a runtime assurance technique that checks a system’s behavior against a formal specification during execution, using a dedicated software or hardware component known as a monitor. RTLola is a stream-based specification language with an extensive software framework for the fully automatic construction of monitors.

Constructing runtime monitors is challenging due to their frequent use in safety-critical and embedded systems. Monitors must be correct by construction, free of runtime errors, and operate within bounded memory limits independent of execution duration. To accelerate their adoption, they should also be easily adaptable and integrable into the target systems.

This paper provides an overview of the RTLola software framework, which addresses these challenges through static specification analyses and a configurable API. We illustrate its use and implementation, and discuss the tool’s practical impact.

Science of Computer Programming