51,195 research outputs found
Coordination Contracts as Connectors in Component-Based Development
Several proposals for component-based development
methods have started to appear. However, the emphasis is
still very much on the development of components as
opposed to the development with components. The main
focus is on how to generate ideal reusable components not
on how to plug existing components and specify their
interactions and connections.
The concept of a coordination contract (Andrade and
Fiadeiro 1999; Andrade and Fiadeiro 2001; Andrade,
Fiadeiro et al. 2001) has been proposed to specify a
mechanism of interaction between objects based on the
separation between structure, what is stable, and
interaction, what is changeable. This separation supports
better any change of requirements, as contracts can be
replaced, added or removed dynamically, i.e. in run-time,
without having to interfere with the components that they
coordinate. A coordination contract corresponds to an
expressive architectural connector that can be used to plug
existing components.
In this paper we integrate the concept of a coordination
contract with component-based development and show
how coordination contracts can be used to specify the
connectors between components
Precise service level agreements
SLAng is an XML language for defining service level agreements, the part of a contract between the client and provider of an Internet service that describes the quality attributes that the service is required to possess. We define the semantics of SLAng precisely by modelling the syntax of the language in UML, then embedding the language model in an environmental model that describes the structure and behaviour of services. The presence of SLAng elements imposes behavioural constraints on service elements, and the precise definition of these constraints using OCL constitutes the semantic description of the language. We use the semantics to define a notion of SLA compatibility, and an extension to UML that enables the modelling of service situations as a precursor to analysis, implementation and provisioning activities
Multilevel Contracts for Trusted Components
This article contributes to the design and the verification of trusted
components and services. The contracts are declined at several levels to cover
then different facets, such as component consistency, compatibility or
correctness. The article introduces multilevel contracts and a
design+verification process for handling and analysing these contracts in
component models. The approach is implemented with the COSTO platform that
supports the Kmelia component model. A case study illustrates the overall
approach.Comment: In Proceedings WCSI 2010, arXiv:1010.233
The Knowledge Application and Utilization Framework Applied to Defense COTS: A Research Synthesis for Outsourced Innovation
Purpose -- Militaries of developing nations face increasing budget pressures, high operations tempo, a blitzing pace of technology, and adversaries that often meet or beat government capabilities using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies. The adoption of COTS products into defense acquisitions has been offered to help meet these challenges by essentially outsourcing new product development and innovation. This research summarizes extant research to develop a framework for managing the innovative and knowledge flows. Design/Methodology/Approach – A literature review of 62 sources was conducted with the objectives of identifying antecedents (barriers and facilitators) and consequences of COTS adoption. Findings – The DoD COTS literature predominantly consists of industry case studies, and there’s a strong need for further academically rigorous study. Extant rigorous research implicates the importance of the role of knowledge management to government innovative thinking that relies heavily on commercial suppliers. Research Limitations/Implications – Extant academically rigorous studies tend to depend on measures derived from work in information systems research, relying on user satisfaction as the outcome. Our findings indicate that user satisfaction has no relationship to COTS success; technically complex governmental purchases may be too distant from users or may have socio-economic goals that supersede user satisfaction. The knowledge acquisition and utilization framework worked well to explain the innovative process in COTS. Practical Implications – Where past research in the commercial context found technological knowledge to outweigh market knowledge in terms of importance, our research found the opposite. Managers either in government or marketing to government should be aware of the importance of market knowledge for defense COTS innovation, especially for commercial companies that work as system integrators. Originality/Value – From the literature emerged a framework of COTS product usage and a scale to measure COTS product appropriateness that should help to guide COTS product adoption decisions and to help manage COTS product implementations ex post
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