A Systematic Approach to Constructing Families of Incremental Topology Control Algorithms Using Graph Transformation

In the communication systems domain, constructing and maintaining network topologies via topology control (TC) algorithms is an important cross-cutting research area. Network topologies are usually modeled using attributed graphs whose nodes and edges represent the network nodes and their interconnecting links. A key requirement of TC algorithms is to fulfill certain consistency and optimization properties to ensure a high quality of service. Still, few attempts have been made to constructively integrate these properties into the development process of TC algorithms. Furthermore, even though many TC algorithms share substantial parts (such as structural patterns or tie-breaking strategies), few works constructively leverage these commonalities and differences of TC algorithms systematically. In previous work, we addressed the constructive integration of consistency properties into the development process. We outlined a constructive, model-driven methodology for designing individual TC algorithms. Valid and high-quality topologies are characterized using declarative graph constraints; TC algorithms are specified using programmed graph transformation. We applied a well-known static analysis technique to refine a given TC algorithm in a way that the resulting algorithm preserves the specified graph constraints. In this paper, we extend our constructive methodology by generalizing it to support the specification of families of TC algorithms. To show the feasibility of our approach, we reneging six existing TC algorithms and develop e-kTC, a novel energy-efficient variant of the TC algorithm kTC. Finally, we evaluate a subset of the specified TC algorithms using a new tool integration of the graph transformation tool eMoflon and the Simonstrator network simulation framework.Comment: Corresponds to the accepted manuscrip

Automating the transformation-based analysis of visual languages

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00165-009-0114-yWe present a novel approach for the automatic generation of model-to-model transformations given a description of the operational semantics of the source language in the form of graph transformation rules. The approach is geared to the generation of transformations from Domain-Specific Visual Languages (DSVLs) into semantic domains with an explicit notion of transition, like for example Petri nets. The generated transformation is expressed in the form of operational triple graph grammar rules that transform the static information (initial model) and the dynamics (source rules and their execution control structure). We illustrate these techniques with a DSVL in the domain of production systems, for which we generate a transformation into Petri nets. We also tackle the description of timing aspects in graph transformation rules, and its analysis through their automatic translation into Time Petri netsWork sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project METEORIC (TIN2008-02081/TIN) and by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

The Joys of Graph Transformation

We believe that the technique of graph transformation offers a very natural way to specify semantics for languages that have dynamic allocation and linking structure; for instance, object-oriented programming languages, but also languages for mobility. In this note we expose, on a rather informal level, the reasons for this belief. Our hope in doing this is to raise interest in this technique and so generate more interest in the fascinating possibilities and open questions of this area.\u

Succinct Representations for Abstract Interpretation

Abstract interpretation techniques can be made more precise by distinguishing paths inside loops, at the expense of possibly exponential complexity. SMT-solving techniques and sparse representations of paths and sets of paths avoid this pitfall. We improve previously proposed techniques for guided static analysis and the generation of disjunctive invariants by combining them with techniques for succinct representations of paths and symbolic representations for transitions based on static single assignment. Because of the non-monotonicity of the results of abstract interpretation with widening operators, it is difficult to conclude that some abstraction is more precise than another based on theoretical local precision results. We thus conducted extensive comparisons between our new techniques and previous ones, on a variety of open-source packages.Comment: Static analysis symposium (SAS), Deauville : France (2012

Graph Subsumption in Abstract State Space Exploration

In this paper we present the extension of an existing method for abstract graph-based state space exploration, called neighbourhood abstraction, with a reduction technique based on subsumption. Basically, one abstract state subsumes another when it covers more concrete states; in such a case, the subsumed state need not be included in the state space, thus giving a reduction. We explain the theory and especially also report on a number of experiments, which show that subsumption indeed drastically reduces both the state space and the resources (time and memory) needed to compute it.Comment: In Proceedings GRAPHITE 2012, arXiv:1210.611