Bigraph Metaprogramming for Distributed Computation

Ubiquitous computing is a paradigm that emphasises integration of computing activities into the fabric of everyday life. With the increasing availability of small, cheap computing devices, the ubiquitous computing model seems more and more likely to supplant desktop computing as the dominant paradigm. Similarly, the presence of high-speed network connectivity between vast numbers of computers has already made distributed computing the preferred paradigm for many application domains. Unfortunately, traditional approaches to software development are not necessarily well-suited to developing software in a post-desktop world. We present an extension to the bigraphical reactive systems formalism that enables us to construct a programming language based upon it. We believe that this programming language provides programmers with an environment better suited to the challenges that arise when creating software within a distributed or ubiquitous computing paradigm. We detail our modification to the theory of bigraphical reactive systems that enables metaprogramming. Finally, we provide a description of our prototype implementation of a programming language that enables metaprogramming of bigraphical reactive systems

A Bigraphical Vending Machine as a Webservice: From Specification and Analysis to Implementation using the Bigraph Toolkit Suite

A bigraph-driven vending machine is implemented. The application is realized as a Spring-based webservice. Actions can be initiated by REST endpoints. The system follows a rule-based architecture, where possible operations are grounded on a rule set. Bigraphical Reactive Systems are used for the specification and execution. The actual state of the application is a bigraph stored in a database, which can be viewed and altered directly in the database. A history of states is kept - the application can be transferred to any prior state. The application can be updated or extended by merely changing the bigraphical database model.:First Part: A system of a vending machine is specified and analyzed using BDSL. This concerns the static and dynamic aspects of the system. Second Part: The analysis results are re-used for the implementation using Bigraph Framework. The application is realized as a webservice that is built using the Spring framework.Ein bigraph-gesteuerter Verkaufsautomat wird implementiert. Die Anwendung ist als Spring-basierter Webservice realisiert. Aktionen können über REST-Endpunkte initiiert werden. Das System folgt einer regelbasierten Architektur, bei der die möglichen Operationen auf einem Regelsatz beruhen. Für die Spezifikation und Ausführung werden Bigraphical Reactive Systems verwendet. Der aktuelle Zustand der Anwendung ist ein in einer Datenbank gespeicherter Bigraph, der direkt in der Datenbank eingesehen und verändert werden kann. Es wird eine Historie der Zustände geführt - die Anwendung kann in einen beliebigen früheren Zustand überführt werden. Die Anwendung kann aktualisiert oder erweitert werden, indem lediglich das bigraphische Datenbankmodell geändert wird.:First Part: A system of a vending machine is specified and analyzed using BDSL. This concerns the static and dynamic aspects of the system. Second Part: The analysis results are re-used for the implementation using Bigraph Framework. The application is realized as a webservice that is built using the Spring framework

Constructing runtime models with bigraphs to address ubiquitous computing service composition volatility

In this thesis, we explore the appropriateness of the language abstractions provided by Bigraphs to construct a model at runtime to tackle the problem of volatility in a service composition running on a mobile device. Our contributions to knowledge are as follows: 1) We have shown that Bigraphs (Milner, 2009) are suitable for expressing models at runtime. 2) We have offered Bigraph language abstractions as an appropriate solution to some of the research problems posed by the models at runtime community (Aßmann et al., 2012). 3) We have discussed the general lessons learnt from using Bigraphs for a practical application such as a model at runtime. 4) We have discussed the general lessons learnt from our experiences of designing models at runtime. 5) We have implemented the model at runtime using the BPL Tool (ITU, 2011) and have experimentally studied the response times of our Bigraphical model. We have suggested appropriate enhancements for the tool based on our experiences. We present techniques to parameterize the reaction rules so that the matching algorithm of the BPL Tool returns a single match giving us the ability to dynamically program the model at runtime. We also show how to query the Bigraph structure

Software Engineering Challenges for Investigating Cyber-Physical Incidents

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are characterized by the interplay between digital and physical spaces. This characteristic has extended the attack surface that could be exploited by an offender to cause harm. An increasing number of cyber-physical incidents may occur depending on the configuration of the physical and digital spaces and their interplay. Traditional investigation processes are not adequate to investigate these incidents, as they may overlook the extended attack surface resulting from such interplay, leading to relevant evidence being missed and testing flawed hypotheses explaining the incidents. The software engineering research community can contribute to addressing this problem, by deploying existing formalisms to model digital and physical spaces, and using analysis techniques to reason about their interplay and evolution. In this paper, supported by a motivating example, we describe some emerging software engineering challenges to support investigations of cyber-physical incidents. We review and critique existing research proposed to address these challenges, and sketch an initial solution based on a meta-model to represent cyber-physical incidents and a representation of the topology of digital and physical spaces that supports reasoning about their interplay

Domain-Specific Modelling Languages in Bigraphs

Modelling is a ubiquitous activity in human endeavours, and the construction of informatic models of many kinds is the key to understanding and managing the complexity of an increasingly computational world. We advocate the use of domain-specific modelling languages, instantiated within a “tower ” of models, in order to improve the utility of the models we build, and to ease the process of model construction by moving the languages we use to express such models closer to their respective domains. This thesis is concerned with the study of bigraphical reactive systems as a host for domain-specific modelling languages. We present a number of novel technical developments, including a new complete meta-calculus presentation of bigraphical reactive systems, an abstract machine that instantiates to an abstract machine for any instance calculi, and a mechanism for defining declaratively sorting predicates that always give rise to wellbehaved sortings. We explore bigraphical refinement relations that permit formalisation of the relationship between different languages instantiate

Un Framework Basé Bigraphes pour la Conception et l'Analyse des Systèmes Sensibles au Contexte

Today, modern technologies have become a part of our daily life. Whether to be informed, entertained, or even to communicate with friends, ubiquitous computing offers numerous opportunities. For this to become reality, computer systems must be able to observe the environment and to adapt their behaviour according to the users expectations and needs. This is called context-awareness. Indeed, the literature shows that context-awareness is the focal point of ubiquitous computing. However, due to heterogeneity and dynamicity of context information, taking it into account requires establishing a model to represent these information at a high-level of abstraction.In this thesis, we propose a model called BigCAS (Bigraphical Context-Aware System) that supports the design of context-aware systems. To achieve this goal, BigCAS is based on formal specifications, derived from bigraphical reactive systems, for modelling structural and behavioural aspects of context aware systems. It provides a clear separation between the context-aware part and the context-unaware part of these systems. Each part is modelled separately as a distinct bigraph, where the composition of these bigraphs models the general structure of the system, particularly, its components interactions and their side effects. Moreover, BigCAS considers not only structural aspects, but also the different reconfigurations involved in the behaviour of context aware systems.We also propose an extension to BigCAS, named BigCAS-FA (Bigraphical Context-Aware System - Formal Analysis), that provides formal verification of safety and liveness properties of context aware systems. Furthermore, BigCAS-FA provides contract-based strategies to guide the dynamic reconfiguration according to the context.To validate our proposals, we develop a prototype, BigCAS-Tool (Bigraphical Context Aware System - Tool), devoted to the specification and verification of context-aware systems. The proposed prototype is illustrated with a case study of a smart lighting system.Aujourd'hui, les nouvelles technologies font partie de notre vie quotidienne. Qu'il s'agisse de s'informer, de se divertir, ou même de communiquer avec ses amis, les possibilités qu'offre l'informatique ubiquitaire sont innombrables.Pour que ces possibilités puissent devenir une réalité, les systèmes informatiques doivent alors se doter d'une capacité d'observation de leur environnement et de s'adapter en fonction des attentes et des besoins des utilisateurs. C'est ce qu'on appelle la sensibilité au contexte. En effet, la littérature montre que la sensibilité au contexte est le point central de l'informatique ubiquitaire. Cependant, face à l'hétérogénéité et la dynamicité des informations de contexte, sa prise en compte nécessite la mise en place d'un modèle pour décrire ces informations à un haut niveau d'abstraction.Dans ce travail de thèse nous proposons, dans un premier temps, un modèle appelé BigCAS (Bigraphical Contexte-Aware System) qui permet la conception formelle des systèmes sensibles au contexte. Pour accomplir cet objectif, BigCAS repose sur des modèles formelles à base des systèmes réactifs bigraphiques permettant la modélisation des aspects structurels et comportementaux des systèmes sensibles au contexte. Il offre une séparation claire entre la partie sensible au contexte et la partie non-sensible au contexte de ces systèmes. Chacune de ces parties est modélisée séparément par un bigraphe distinct, où la composition de ceux-ci modélise la structure générale du système ainsi que les interactions et les effets de bord entre ses différents composants. Par ailleurs, BigCAS tient compte non seulement des aspects structurels, mais aussi des différentes reconfigurations intervenant dans le comportement des systèmes sensibles au contexte.Nous proposons également une extension du modèle BigCAS, appelée BigCAS-FA (Bigraphical Context-Aware System - Formal Analysis), qui permet la vérification formelle de propriétés de sûreté et de vivacité des systèmes sensibles au contexte. En outre, BigCAS-FA possède des stratégies à base de contrats qui consistent à guider la reconfiguration dynamique en fonction du contexte.Afin de valider nos propositions, nous développons le prototype BigCAS-Tool (Bigraphical Context Aware System - Tool) dédié à la spécification et la vérification des systèmes sensibles au contexte, et nous l'illustrons à travers une étude de cas d'un système d'éclairage intelligent

Modelling and Verification of Large-Scale Sensor Network Infrastructures

Large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSN) are increasingly deployed and an open question is how they can support multiple applications. Networks and sensing devices are typically heterogeneous and evolving: topologies change, nodes drop in and out of the network, and devices are reconfigured. The key question we address is how to verify that application requirements are met, individually and collectively, and can continue to be met, in the context of large-scale, evolving network and device configurations. We define a modelling and verification framework based on Bigraphical Reactive Systems (BRS) for modelling, with bigraph patterns and temporal logic properties for specifying application requirements. The bigraph diagrammatic notation provides an intuitive representation of concepts such as hierarchies, communication, events and spatial relationships, which are fundamental to WSNs. We demonstrate modelling and verification through a real-life urban environmental monitoring case-study. A novel contribution is automated online verification using BigraphER and replay of real-life sensed data streams and network events by the Cooja network simulator. Performance results for verification of two application properties running on a WSN with up to 200 nodes indicate our framework is capable of handling WSNs of that scale