The Role of Knowledge Modeling Techniques in Software Development: A General Approach Based on a Knowledge Management Tool

The aim of the paper is to discuss the use of knowledge models to formulate general applications. First, the paper presents the recent evolution of the software field where increasing attention is paid to conceptual modeling. Then, the current state of knowledge modeling techniques is described where increased reliability is available through the modern knowledge acquisition techniques and supporting tools. The KSM (Knowledge Structure Manager) tool is described next. First, the concept of knowledge area is introduced as a building block where methods to perform a collection of tasks are included together with the bodies of knowledge providing the basic methods to perform the basic tasks. Then, the CONCEL language to define vocabularies of domains and the LINK language for methods formulation are introduced. Finally, the object oriented implementation of a knowledge area is described and a general methodology for application design and maintenance supported by KSM is proposed. To illustrate the concepts and methods, an example of system for intelligent traffic management in a road network is described. This example is followed by a proposal of generalization for reuse of the resulting architecture. Finally, some concluding comments are proposed about the feasibility of using the knowledge modeling tools and methods for general application design

Patterns for Agent-Based Information Systems: A Case Study in Transport

International audienceIntelligent Transport Information Systems may find benefit of using agent-based solutions. Actually, transport information systems require adaptability to varying changes in offers, and unexpected occurring events. Agents and multiagent systems provide such requirements. Unfortunately, agent-based information systems such as other distributed, asynchronous, loose coupling applications are difficult to design and implement due to lack of best practices to ease development. This paper describes an approach based on software pattern reuse that facilitates engineering of these systems. Some patterns have been specified for the analysis and design of such information systems and are described here. Implementation patterns for a specific platform are sketched in perspectives of this research

The Semantic Web Revisited

The original Scientific American article on the Semantic Web appeared in 2001. It described the evolution of a Web that consisted largely of documents for humans to read to one that included data and information for computers to manipulate. The Semantic Web is a Web of actionable information--information derived from data through a semantic theory for interpreting the symbols.This simple idea, however, remains largely unrealized. Shopbots and auction bots abound on the Web, but these are essentially handcrafted for particular tasks; they have little ability to interact with heterogeneous data and information types. Because we haven't yet delivered large-scale, agent-based mediation, some commentators argue that the Semantic Web has failed to deliver. We argue that agents can only flourish when standards are well established and that the Web standards for expressing shared meaning have progressed steadily over the past five years. Furthermore, we see the use of ontologies in the e-science community presaging ultimate success for the Semantic Web--just as the use of HTTP within the CERN particle physics community led to the revolutionary success of the original Web. This article is part of a special issue on the Future of AI

Modeling & Simulation Education for the Acquisition and T&E Workforce: FY07 Deliverable Package

This report was prepared for CAPT Mike Lilienthal, PhD, CPE, and funded by ASN (RDA) CHENG and the Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office (MSCO).This technical report presents the deliverables for calendar year 2007 for the "Educating the Modeling and Simulation Workforce" project performed for the DoD Modeling and Simulation Steering Committee. It includes the results for spirals one and two. Spiral one is an analysis of the educational needs of the program manager, systems engineer, and test and evaluation workforces against a set of educational skill requirements developed by the project team. This is referred to as the 'learning matrix'. Spiral two is a set of module and course matrices, along with delivery options, that meets the educational needs indentified in spiral one. This is referred to as the 'learning architecture'. Supporting materials, such as case studies and a handbook, are included. These documents serve as the design framework for spirals three and four, to be completed in CY2008, and which involve the actual production and testing of the courses in the learning architecture and their longitudinal assessment. This report includes the creative work of a seven university consortium and a group of M&S stake-holders, together comprising over 60 personnel.ASN (RDA) CHENG and the Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office (MSCO).This report was prepared for CAPT Mike Lilienthal, PhD, CPE, and funded by ASN (RDA) CHENG and the Modeling and Simulation Coordination Office (MSCO)

A framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry

This paper presents a framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry. The aim of this approach is to strengthen the modularity and reuse of engineering design ontologies to support knowledge management initiatives within the aerospace industry. Successful development and effective utilisation of engineering ontologies strongly depends on the method/framework used to develop them. Ensuring modularity in ontology design is essential for engineering design activities due to the complexity of knowledge that is required to be brought together to support the product design decision-making process. The proposed approach adopts best practices from previous ontology development methods, but focuses on encouraging modular architectural ontology design. The framework is comprised of three phases namely: (1) Ontology design and development; (2) Ontology validation and (3) Implementation of ontology structure. A qualitative research methodology is employed which is composed of four phases. The first phase defines the capture of knowledge required for the framework development, followed by the ontology framework development, iterative refinement of engineering ontologies and ontology validation through case studies and experts’ opinion. The ontology-based framework is applied in the combustor and casing aerospace engineering domain. The modular ontologies developed as a result of applying the framework and are used in a case study to restructure and improve the accessibility of information on a product design information-sharing platform. Additionally, domain experts within the aerospace industry validated the strengths, benefits and limitations of the framework. Due to the modular nature of the developed ontologies, they were also employed to support other project initiatives within the case study company such as role-based computing (RBC), IT modernisation activity and knowledge management implementation across the sponsoring organisation. The major benefit of this approach is in the reduction of man-hours required for maintaining engineering design ontologies. Furthermore, this approach strengthens reuse of ontology knowledge and encourages modularity in the design and development of engineering ontologies

Integrating case based reasoning and geographic information systems in a planing support system: Çeşme Peninsula study

Thesis (Doctoral)--Izmir Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Izmir, 2009Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 110-121)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 140 leavesUrban and regional planning is experiencing fundamental changes on the use of of computer-based models in planning practice and education. However, with this increased use, .Geographic Information Systems. (GIS) or .Computer Aided Design.(CAD) alone cannot serve all of the needs of planning. Computational approaches should be modified to deal better with the imperatives of contemporary planning by using artificial intelligence techniques in city planning process.The main aim of this study is to develop an integrated .Planning Support System. (PSS) tool for supporting the planning process. In this research, .Case Based Reasoning. (CBR) .an artificial intelligence technique- and .Geographic Information Systems. (GIS) .geographic analysis, data management and visualization techniqueare used as a major PSS tools to build a .Case Based System. (CBS) for knowledge representation on an operational study. Other targets of the research are to discuss the benefits of CBR method in city planning domain and to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of this technique in a PSS. .Çeşme Peninsula. case study which applied under the desired methodology is presented as an experimental and operational stage of the thesis.This dissertation tried to find out whether an integrated model which employing CBR&GIS could support human decision making in a city planning task. While the CBS model met many of predefined goals of the thesis, both advantages and limitations have been realized from findings when applied to the complex domain such as city planning

Report on the Second Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE2)

This technical report records and discusses the Second Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE2). The report includes a description of the alternative, experimental submission and review process, two workshop keynote presentations, a series of lightning talks, a discussion on sustainability, and five discussions from the topic areas of exploring sustainability; software development experiences; credit & incentives; reproducibility & reuse & sharing; and code testing & code review. For each topic, the report includes a list of tangible actions that were proposed and that would lead to potential change. The workshop recognized that reliance on scientific software is pervasive in all areas of world-leading research today. The workshop participants then proceeded to explore different perspectives on the concept of sustainability. Key enablers and barriers of sustainable scientific software were identified from their experiences. In addition, recommendations with new requirements such as software credit files and software prize frameworks were outlined for improving practices in sustainable software engineering. There was also broad consensus that formal training in software development or engineering was rare among the practitioners. Significant strides need to be made in building a sense of community via training in software and technical practices, on increasing their size and scope, and on better integrating them directly into graduate education programs. Finally, journals can define and publish policies to improve reproducibility, whereas reviewers can insist that authors provide sufficient information and access to data and software to allow them reproduce the results in the paper. Hence a list of criteria is compiled for journals to provide to reviewers so as to make it easier to review software submitted for publication as a “Software Paper.

Model driven product line engineering : core asset and process implications

Reuse is at the heart of major improvements in productivity and quality in Software Engineering. Both Model Driven Engineering (MDE) and Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) are software development paradigms that promote reuse. Specifically, they promote systematic reuse and a departure from craftsmanship towards an industrialization of the software development process. MDE and SPLE have established their benefits separately. Their combination, here called Model Driven Product Line Engineering (MDPLE), gathers together the advantages of both. Nevertheless, this blending requires MDE to be recasted in SPLE terms. This has implications on both the core assets and the software development process. The challenges are twofold: (i) models become central core assets from which products are obtained and (ii) the software development process needs to cater for the changes that SPLE and MDE introduce. This dissertation proposes a solution to the first challenge following a feature oriented approach, with an emphasis on reuse and early detection of inconsistencies. The second part is dedicated to assembly processes, a clear example of the complexity MDPLE introduces in software development processes. This work advocates for a new discipline inside the general software development process, i.e., the Assembly Plan Management, which raises the abstraction level and increases reuse in such processes. Different case studies illustrate the presented ideas.This work was hosted by the University of the Basque Country (Faculty of Computer Sciences). The author enjoyed a doctoral grant from the Basque Goverment under the “Researchers Training Program” during the years 2005 to 2009. The work was was co-supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, and the European Social Fund under contracts WAPO (TIN2005-05610) and MODELINE (TIN2008-06507-C02-01)