What use are formal design and analysis methods to telecommunications services?

Have formal methods failed, or will they fail, to help us solve problems of detecting and resolving of feature interactions in telecommunications software? This paper contains SWOT(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the use of formula design and analysis methods in feature interaction analysis and makes some suggestions for future research

Modelling and analysing user views of telecommunications services

User views of calls are modelled by behaviour trees, which are synchronised to form a network of users. High level presentations of the models are given using process algebra and an explicit theory of features, including precedences. These precedences abstractly encapsulate the possible state spaces which result from different combinations of features. The high level presentation supports incremental development of features and testing and experimentation through animation. Interactions which are not detected during the experimentation phase may be found through static analysis of the high level presentation, through dynamic analysis of the under-lying low level transition system, and through verification of temporal properties through model-checking. In each case, interactions are resolved through manipulation of the feature precedences

Hybrid solutions to the feature interaction problem

In this paper we assume a competitive marketplace where the features are developed by different enterprises, which cannot or will not exchange information. We present a classification of feature interaction in this setting and introduce an on-line technique which serves as a basis for the two novel <i>hybrid</i> approaches presented. The approaches are hybrid as they are neither strictly off-line nor on-line, but combine aspects of both. The two approaches address different kinds of feature interactions, and thus are complimentary. Together they provide a complete solution by addressing interaction detection and resolution. We illustrate the techniques within the communication networks domain

Features Interaction Detection and Resolution in Smart home systems Using Agent-Based Negotiation Approach

Smart home systems (SHS) have become an increasingly important technology in modern life. Apart from safety, security, convenience and entertainment, they offer significant potential benefits for the elderly, disabled and others who cannot live independently. Furthermore, smart homes are environmentally friendly. SHS functionality is based on perceiving residents’ needs and desires, then offering services accordingly. In order to be smart, homes have to be equipped with sensors, actuators and intelligent devices and appliances, as well as connectivity and control mechanisms. A typical SHS comprises heterogeneous services and appliances that are designed by many different developers and which may meet for the first time in the home network. The heterogeneous nature of the systems, in addition to the dynamic environment in which they are deployed, exposes them to undesirable interactions between services, known as Feature Interaction (FI). Another reason for FI is the divergence between the policies, needs and desires of different residents. Proposed approaches to FI detection and resolution should take these different types of interaction into account. Negotiation is an effective mechanism to address FI, as conflicting features can then negotiate with each other to reach a compromise agreement. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop an Agent-Based Negotiation Approach (ABNA) to detect and resolve feature interaction in a SHS. A smart home architecture incorporating the components of the ABNA has been proposed. The backbone of the proposed approach is a hierarchy in which features are organised according to their importance in terms of their functional contribution to the overall service. Thus, features are categorised according to their priority, those which are essential for the service to function having the highest priority. An agent model of the ABNA is proposed and comprehensive definitions of its components are presented. A computational model of the system also has been proposed which is used to explain the behaviour of different components when a proposal to perform a task is raised. To clarify the system requirements and also to aid the design and implementation of its properties, a formal specification of the ABNA is presented using the mathematical notations of Calculus of Context-aware Ambient (CCA), then in order to evaluate the approach a case study is reported, involving two services within the SHS: ventilation and air conditioning. For the purpose of evaluation, the execution environment of CCA is utilised to execute and analyse the ABNA

Online Analysis of Dynamic Streaming Data

Die Arbeit zum Thema "Online Analysis of Dynamic Streaming Data" beschäftigt sich mit der Distanzmessung dynamischer, semistrukturierter Daten in kontinuierlichen Datenströmen um Analysen auf diesen Datenstrukturen bereits zur Laufzeit zu ermöglichen. Hierzu wird eine Formalisierung zur Distanzberechnung für statische und dynamische Bäume eingeführt und durch eine explizite Betrachtung der Dynamik von Attributen einzelner Knoten der Bäume ergänzt. Die Echtzeitanalyse basierend auf der Distanzmessung wird durch ein dichte-basiertes Clustering ergänzt, um eine Anwendung des Clustering, einer Klassifikation, aber auch einer Anomalieerkennung zu demonstrieren. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit basieren auf einer theoretischen Analyse der eingeführten Formalisierung von Distanzmessungen für dynamische Bäume. Diese Analysen werden unterlegt mit empirischen Messungen auf Basis von Monitoring-Daten von Batchjobs aus dem Batchsystem des GridKa Daten- und Rechenzentrums. Die Evaluation der vorgeschlagenen Formalisierung sowie der darauf aufbauenden Echtzeitanalysemethoden zeigen die Effizienz und Skalierbarkeit des Verfahrens. Zudem wird gezeigt, dass die Betrachtung von Attributen und Attribut-Statistiken von besonderer Bedeutung für die Qualität der Ergebnisse von Analysen dynamischer, semistrukturierter Daten ist. Außerdem zeigt die Evaluation, dass die Qualität der Ergebnisse durch eine unabhängige Kombination mehrerer Distanzen weiter verbessert werden kann. Insbesondere wird durch die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit die Analyse sich über die Zeit verändernder Daten ermöglicht

Description Logic for Scene Understanding at the Example of Urban Road Intersections

Understanding a natural scene on the basis of external sensors is a task yet to be solved by computer algorithms. The present thesis investigates the suitability of a particular family of explicit, formal representation and reasoning formalisms for this task, which are subsumed under the term Description Logic

Representing New Voice Services and Their Features

New voice services are investigated in the fields of Internet telephony (SIP – Session Initiation Protocol) and interactive voice systems (VoiceXML – Voice Extended Markup Language). It is explained how CRESS (Chisel Representation Employing Systematic Specification) can graphically represent services and features in these domains. CRESS is a front-end for detecting feature interactions and for implementing features. The nature of service architecture and feature composition are presented. CRESS descriptions are automatically compiled into LOTOS (Language Of Temporal Ordering Specification) and SDL (Specification and Description Language), allowing automated analysis of service behaviour and feature interaction. For implementation, CRESS diagrams can be compiled into Perl (for SIP) and VoiceXML. The approach combines the benefits of an accessible graphical notation, underlying formalisms, and practical realisation

Towards formalisation of situation-specific computations in pervasive computing environments

We have categorised the characteristics and the content of pervasive computing environments (PCEs), and demonstrated why a non-dynamic approach to knowledge conceptualisation in PCEs does not fulfil the expectations we may have from them. Consequently, we have proposed a formalised computational model, the FCM, for knowledge representation and reasoning in PCEs which, secures the delivery of situation and domain specific services to their users. The proposed model is a user centric model, materialised as a software engineering solution, which uses the computations generated from the FCM, stores them within software architectural components, which in turn can be deployed using modern software technologies. The model has also been inspired by the Semantic Web (SW) vision and provision of SW technologies. Therefore, the FCM creates a semantically rich situation-specific PCE based on SWRL-enabled OWL ontologies that allows reasoning about the situation in a PCE and delivers situation specific service. The proposed FCM model has been illustrated through the example of remote patient monitoring in the healthcare domain. Numerous software applications generated from the FCM have been deployed using Integrated Development Environments and OWL-API