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Hardware-software codesign is emerging as a global top-down solution to design of reactive embedded systems, starting from high level specifications and going through hardware-software partitioning and cosynthesis to link with lower level CAD and CASE tools. At the top level, requirements usually take into account cost and time bounds; we propose here to insert at the same level (i.e., before hardware{software partitioning) also testability requirements, so as to grant the possibility of checking correct interaction between the specified objects whatever their subsequent implementation. A formalism for definition of interfaces and protocols is presented; rules aimed at verification of the interface syntax are introduced.