The pros and cons of using SDL for creation of distributed services

In a competitive market for the creation of complex distributed services, time to market, development cost, maintenance and flexibility are key issues. Optimizing the development process is very much a matter of optimizing the technologies used during service creation. This paper reports on the experience gained in the Service Creation projects SCREEN and TOSCA on use of the language SDL for efficient service creation

TURTLE-P: a UML profile for the formal validation of critical and distributed systems

The timed UML and RT-LOTOS environment, or TURTLE for short, extends UML class and activity diagrams with composition and temporal operators. TURTLE is a real-time UML profile with a formal semantics expressed in RT-LOTOS. Further, it is supported by a formal validation toolkit. This paper introduces TURTLE-P, an extended profile no longer restricted to the abstract modeling of distributed systems. Indeed, TURTLE-P addresses the concrete descriptions of communication architectures, including quality of service parameters (delay, jitter, etc.). This new profile enables co-design of hardware and software components with extended UML component and deployment diagrams. Properties of these diagrams can be evaluated and/or validated thanks to the formal semantics given in RT-LOTOS. The application of TURTLE-P is illustrated with a telecommunication satellite system

The TASTE Toolset: turning human designed heterogeneous systems into computer built homogeneous software.

The TASTE tool-set results from spin-off studies of the ASSERT project, which started in 2004 with the objective to propose innovative and pragmatic solutions to develop real-time software. One of the primary targets was satellite flight software, but it appeared quickly that their characteristics were shared among various embedded systems. The solutions that we developed now comprise a process and several tools ; the development process is based on the idea that real-time, embedded systems are heterogeneous by nature and that a unique UML-like language was not helping neither their construction, nor their validation. Rather than inventing yet another "ultimate" language, TASTE makes the link between existing and mature technologies such as Simulink, SDL, ASN.1, C, Ada, and generates complete, homogeneous software-based systems that one can straightforwardly download and execute on a physical target. Our current prototype is moving toward a marketed product, and sequel studies are already in place to support, among others, FPGA systems

Embedding object-oriented design in system engineering

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a collection of techniques intended to document design decisions about software. This contrasts with systems engineering approaches such as for exampleStatemate and the Yourdon Systems Method (YSM), in which the design of an entire system consisting of software and hardware can be documented. The difference between the system- and the software level is reflected in differences between execution semantics as well as in methodology. In this paper, I show how the UML can be used as a system-level design technique. I give a conceptual framework for engineering design that accommodates the system- as well as the software level and show how techniques from the UML and YSM can be classified within this framework, and how this allows a coherent use of these techniques in a system engineering approach. These ideas are illustrated by a case study in which software for a compact dynamic bus station is designed. Finally, I discuss the consequences of this approach for a semantics of UML constructs that would be appropriate for system-level design

Generating a Performance Stochastic Model from UML Specifications

Since its initiation by Connie Smith, the process of Software Performance Engineering (SPE) is becoming a growing concern. The idea is to bring performance evaluation into the software design process. This suitable methodology allows software designers to determine the performance of software during design. Several approaches have been proposed to provide such techniques. Some of them propose to derive from a UML (Unified Modeling Language) model a performance model such as Stochastic Petri Net (SPN) or Stochastic process Algebra (SPA) models. Our work belongs to the same category. We propose to derive from a UML model a Stochastic Automata Network (SAN) in order to obtain performance predictions. Our approach is more flexible due to the SAN modularity and its high resemblance to UML' state-chart diagram

A Literature Survey of the Development Processes for Secure Software

Turvalise tarkvara arendusprotsessidel on tähtis roll turvalise tarkvara kavandamisel, aga erinevate arendusprotsessidel vahel on rakse valikut teha ilma nendevahelie võrdluseta. Veel enam peale arendusprotsessi rakendamist tuleb valida meetodid, mida kasutada selle arendusprotsessi rakendamisel. Meetodite valikul tekib aga probleem, sest arendusprotsessides ei ole öeldud, milliseid meetodeid tuleks kasutada, et täita vajalikud tegevused turvalise tarkvara arendamiseks. Selle töö raames me võrdleme kolme erinevat turvalise tarkvara arendusprotsessi: Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle, OWASP CLASP ja Cigital’s Security Touchpoints. Järgmisena me keskendume valitud arendusprotsesside faasile, mis käsitleb turvariskide haldust ja viime läbi uuringu, et teada saada, mis on tänapäevased turvariski meetodid. Me anname nendest meetoditest lühikokkuvõtte ja võrdleme neid omavahel, mis loodetavasti lihtustab nende vahel valimist. Me koostame veel leitud meetoditest ühise vaate, mis aitab kaasa kõigi arendusprotsesside poolt pakutud tegevuste täitmisele selle faasis. See on vajalik, sest riskihaldus mängib suurt rolli turvalise tarkvara arendamisel ja erinevate riskihaldus meetodite kombineerimist saab kasutada, et avastada rohkem riske loodavast tarkvarast ja hiljem neid riske korrektselt leevendada.Secure software development processes are critical part of designing secure software. However, it is hard for the various stakeholders to make the decision about which software development process to choose without a comparison between them. Even further, after choosing the process, stakeholders have to decide which methods and techniques to use to fulfil activities required to develop secure software development processes. This is a problem, because there are a number of methods a stakeholder could use to fulfil these activities, but no explicit links between a method and development process. In this thesis firstly we perform comparison of three secure system development approaches namely Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle, OWASP CLASP and Cigital’s Security Touchpoints. In the next step we focus on step within these approaches, namely the security risk management and carry out an analytical survey to find out current methods for security risk management. We give a short overview and comparison between found methods, which potentially will help stakeholders to select their approach for designing secure software with the focus on security risk analysis. We also provide them with opportunity to perform all activities required in risk analysis phase of the development by giving them an aggregate view of risk management methods. This is essential, because risk analysis is a major part of developing secure software and combining different techniques can be used to discover and mitigate more risks in software under development

A Literature Survey of the Development Processes for Secure Software

Turvalise tarkvara arendusprotsessidel on tähtis roll turvalise tarkvara kavandamisel, aga erinevate arendusprotsessidel vahel on rakse valikut teha ilma nendevahelise võrdluseta. Veel enam peale arendusprotsessi rakendamist tuleb valida meetodid, mida kasutada selle arendusprotsessi rakendamisel. Meetodite valikul tekib aga probleem, sest arendusprotsessides ei ole öeldud, milliseid meetodeid tuleks kasutada, et täita vajalikud tegevused turvalise tarkvara arendamiseks. Selle töö raames me võrdleme kolme erinevat turvalise tarkvara arendusprotsessi: Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle, OWASP CLASP ja Cigital’s Security Touchpoints. Järgmisena me keskendume valitud arendusprotsesside faasile, mis käsitleb turvariskide haldust ja viime läbi uuringu, et teada saada, mis on tänapäevased turvariski meetodid. Me anname nendest meetoditest lühikokkuvõtte ja võrdleme neid omavahel, mis loodetavasti lihtsustab nende vahel valimist. Me koostame veel leitud meetoditest ühise vaate, mis aitab kaasa kõigi arendusprotsesside poolt pakutud tegevuste täitmisele selle faasis. See on vajalik, sest riskihaldus mängib suurt rolli turvalise tarkvara arendamisel ja erinevate riskihaldus meetodite kombineerimist saab kasutada, et avastada rohkem riske loodavast tarkvarast ja hiljem neid riske korrektselt leevendada.Secure software development processes are critical part of designing secure software. However, it is hard for the various stakeholders to make the decision about which software development process to choose without a comparison between them. Even further, after choosing the process, stakeholders have to decide which methods and techniques to use to fulfil activities required to develop secure software development processes. This is a problem, because there are a number of methods a stakeholder could use to fulfil these activities, but no explicit links between a method and development process. In this thesis firstly we perform comparison of three secure system development approaches namely Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle, OWASP CLASP and Cigital’s Security Touchpoints. In the next step we focus on step within these approaches, namely the security risk management and carry out an analytical survey to find out current methods for security risk management. We give a short overview and comparison between found methods, which potentially will help stakeholders to select their approach for designing secure software with the focus on security risk analysis. We also provide them with opportunity to perform all activities required in risk analysis phase of the development by giving them an aggregate view of risk management methods. This is essential, because risk analysis is a major part of developing secure software and combining different techniques can be used to discover and mitigate more risks in software under development