Deriving Product Architectures from an ADLARS Described Reference Architecture using Leopard

In Product Line Architectures, a reference architecture is designed for a family of software systems that share a set of common properties. Variability points are used to capture variations among the different family members. Different product architectures within the family are then derived from the reference architecture based on the set of features chosen for each given product. No methods have been formalized yet on how to derive product architectures from a reference architecture. This process can, in many cases, be very time consuming especially with large-scale systems comprising thousands of variability points. In this case, manual techniques could become tedious and would introduce a high error margin which makes the need for automation and tool support of high importance. In this presentation we demonstrate a technique for deriving product architectures from an ADLARS described reference architecture using Leopard . ADLARS is an architecture description language that was developed within our research group. ADLARS relates system features to architectural structure: Tasks, Components, and Connectors enabling the generation of product architectures from a reference architecture by specifying the product desired feature set. Leopard is one of the tools within the ADLARS Development Studio, a toolset used for developing and maintaining ADLARS architectures. It is an ADLARS integrated development environment (IDE) and compiler. It can parse ADLARS reference architectures and automatically generate product architectures based on the feature set included. Both ADLARS and Leopard are mature projects and have been used to develop different case studies

Prototyping Component-Based Self-Adaptive Systems with Maude

Software adaptation is becoming increasingly important as more and more applications need to dynamically adapt their structure and behavior to cope with changing contexts, available resources and user requirements. Maude is a high-performance reflective language and system, supporting both equational and rewriting logic specification and programming for a wide range of applications. In this paper we describe our experience in using Maude for prototyping component-based self-adaptive systems so that they can be formally simulated and analyzed. In order to illustrate the benefits of using Maude in this context, a case study in the robotics domain is presented.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009-08572Fundación Séneca-CARM 15374/PI/1

The COMQUAD Component Container Architecture and Contract Negotiation

Component-based applications require runtime support to be able to guarantee non-functional properties. This report proposes an architecture for a real-time-capable, component-based runtime environment, which allows to separate non-functional and functional concerns in component-based software development. The architecture is presented with particular focus on three key issues: the conceptual architecture, an approach including implementation issues for splitting the runtime environment into a real-time-capable and a real-time-incapable part, and details of contract negotiation. The latter includes selecting component implementations for instantiantion based on their non-functional properties

An Architecture-Centric Approach for Information System Architecture Modeling, Enactement and Evolution

International audienc

A Generic Reference Software Architecture for Load Balancing Over Mirrored Web Servers: NaSr Case Study

With the rapid expansion of the internet and the increasing demand on Web servers, many techniques were developed to overcome the servers’ hardware performance limitation. Mirrored Web Servers is one of the techniques used where a number of servers carrying the same “mirrored” set of services are deployed. Client access requests are then distributed over the set of mirrored servers to even up the load. In this paper we present a generic reference software architecture for load balancing over mirrored web servers. The architecture was designed adopting the latest NaSr architectural style [1] and described using the ADLARS [2] architecture description language. With minimal effort, different tailored product architectures can be generated from the reference architecture to serve diffe rent network protocols and server operating systems. An example product system is described and a sample Java implementation is presented

Adapting federated cyberinfrastructure for shared data collection facilities in structural biology

It has been difficult, historically, to manage and maintain early-stage experimental data collected by structural biologists in synchrotron facilities. This work describes a prototype system that adapts existing federated cyberinfrastructure technology and techniques to manage collected data at synchrotrons and to facilitate the efficient and secure transfer of data to the owner’s home institution

Using the NaSr Architectural Style to Solve the Broken Hyperlink Problem

According to a Web usability study [1] by the Georgia Institute of Technology, net use rs rate broken hyperlinks as the second-biggest problem online, right behind slow-loading pages. The problem of broken hyperlinks (or dead links) is a common problem within enterprise websites comprising hundreds or thousands of interconnected web pages that are continuously modified and updated [2]. Broken links can occur due to many reasons such as file rename, delete or path modification, which are likely events within enterprises. Many commercial tools were developed to deal with this problem [3][4]. In this paper, we present a novel architecture for linking web pages following the NaSr style [5] that provides a potential solution for the broken hyperlink problem

A Quality-Driven Methodology for Information Systems Integration

Information systems integration is an essential instrument for organizations to attain advantage in today’s growing and fast changing business and technology landscapes. Integration solutions generate added value by combining the functionality and services of heterogeneous and diverse systems. Existing integration environments tend to rely heavily on technical, platform-dependent skills. Consequently, the solutions that they enable are not optimally aligned with the envisioned business goals of the organization. Furthermore, the gap between the goals and the solutions complicates the task of evaluating the quality of integration solutions. To address these challenges, we propose a quality-driven, model-driven methodology for designing and developing integration solutions. The methodology spans organizational and systems design details, providing a holistic view of the integration solution and its underlying business goals. A multi-view meta-model provides the basis for the integration design. Quality factors that affect various aspects of the integration solution guide and inform the progress of the methodology. An example business case is presented to demonstrate the application of the methodology

Usability of Web Browsers for Multi-touch Platforms

Multi-touch interface is an improvement within the existing touch screen technology, which allows the user to operate the electronic visual display with finger gestures. This work examines how good current web browsers are positioned to avail of the next generation HCI, currently dubbed Natural User Interfaces which are largely multi-touch interfaces at this point in time

Managing software evolution through midleware and policy-based software adaptation framework

Software evolution is a process that is needed in order for software to remain useful. Thus, software evolution should be properly planned and controlled to prevent its negative impact from affecting any organization. Software adaptation concept is one of the promising ways to control software evolution. In this approach, software is made adaptable to minimize the impact of change. A lot of researches on software adaptation focus on adaptability of mobile based and network application due to its context sensitivity and quality-of-service requirements. However, there is still lack of work in enterprise system domain with multiple delivery channels, which focus on adaptability of its context environment such as the changes introduced to its devices. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop a middleware and policy-based, adaptation framework to manage negative effects of software evolution in an enterprise system. The main research focus is on the changes introduced at the device layer. The concept of policy is used to specify adaptations requirements. This research provides a framework called Middleware and Policy-Based Framework to Manage Software Evolution (MiPAF), which can be used to develop adaptive software, allowing parameterized and compositional adaptation. Furthermore, the framework can be used by client-server and web-based application. A policy language called MiPAF Policy Language (MPL) is created to be used with the framework. MiPAF is formally specified using Z Notation and the policy language is described using pseudo code. A tool is provided to assist developers in creating the policy. For evaluation of the framework, a set of runtime components were developed and implemented for Unit Trust System (UTS) Front-end and web-based UTS, two industrial-based case studies. The evaluation result shows that MiPAF excellently fulfil all the evaluation criteria described in this thesis