Taming Uncertainty in the Assurance Process of Self-Adaptive Systems: a Goal-Oriented Approach

Goals are first-class entities in a self-adaptive system (SAS) as they guide the self-adaptation. A SAS often operates in dynamic and partially unknown environments, which cause uncertainty that the SAS has to address to achieve its goals. Moreover, besides the environment, other classes of uncertainty have been identified. However, these various classes and their sources are not systematically addressed by current approaches throughout the life cycle of the SAS. In general, uncertainty typically makes the assurance provision of SAS goals exclusively at design time not viable. This calls for an assurance process that spans the whole life cycle of the SAS. In this work, we propose a goal-oriented assurance process that supports taming different sources (within different classes) of uncertainty from defining the goals at design time to performing self-adaptation at runtime. Based on a goal model augmented with uncertainty annotations, we automatically generate parametric symbolic formulae with parameterized uncertainties at design time using symbolic model checking. These formulae and the goal model guide the synthesis of adaptation policies by engineers. At runtime, the generated formulae are evaluated to resolve the uncertainty and to steer the self-adaptation using the policies. In this paper, we focus on reliability and cost properties, for which we evaluate our approach on the Body Sensor Network (BSN) implemented in OpenDaVINCI. The results of the validation are promising and show that our approach is able to systematically tame multiple classes of uncertainty, and that it is effective and efficient in providing assurances for the goals of self-adaptive systems

Big Data Analytics for QoS Prediction Through Probabilistic Model Checking

As competitiveness increases, being able to guaranting QoS of delivered services is key for business success. It is thus of paramount importance the ability to continuously monitor the workflow providing a service and to timely recognize breaches in the agreed QoS level. The ideal condition would be the possibility to anticipate, thus predict, a breach and operate to avoid it, or at least to mitigate its effects. In this paper we propose a model checking based approach to predict QoS of a formally described process. The continous model checking is enabled by the usage of a parametrized model of the monitored system, where the actual value of parameters is continuously evaluated and updated by means of big data tools. The paper also describes a prototype implementation of the approach and shows its usage in a case study.Comment: EDCC-2014, BIG4CIP-2014, Big Data Analytics, QoS Prediction, Model Checking, SLA compliance monitorin

Connectivity in Dense Networks Confined within Right Prisms

We consider the probability that a dense wireless network confined within a given convex geometry is fully connected. We exploit a recently reported theory to develop a systematic methodology for analytically characterizing the connectivity probability when the network resides within a convex right prism, a polyhedron that accurately models many geometries that can be found in practice. To maximize practicality and applicability, we adopt a general point-to-point link model based on outage probability, and present example analytical and numerical results for a network employing $2 \times 2$ multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) maximum ratio combining (MRC) link level transmission confined within particular bounding geometries. Furthermore, we provide suggestions for extending the approach detailed herein to more general convex geometries.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1201.401

Indefinite waitings in MIRELA systems

MIRELA is a high-level language and a rapid prototyping framework dedicated to systems where virtual and digital objects coexist in the same environment and interact in real time. Its semantics is given in the form of networks of timed automata, which can be checked using symbolic methods. This paper shows how to detect various kinds of indefinite waitings in the components of such systems. The method is experimented using the PRISM model checker.Comment: In Proceedings ESSS 2015, arXiv:1506.0325

Acts or events? A perspective from the marketing mix

La literatura existente en torno a las relaciones píublicas, el ceremonial y el protocolo alterna como sinónimos los términos actos y eventos. A través de una revisión teóricoconceptual, el principal objetivo de este trabajo es demostrar que ambos términos obedecen a realidades diferentes. Los resultados demuestran que, mientras que la organización de actos responde, desde la perspectiva de las relaciones públicas, a las necesidades comunicativas de las organizaciones; los eventos son herramientas que, desde la perspectiva del Mix de Marketing, permiten satisfacer las necesidades económicas, fundamentalmente, de las empresas.The existing public relations, ceremonial and protocol literature alternates the terms acts and events as synonyms. Through a theoretical-conceptual revision, the main objective of this work is to demonstrate that both terms obey different realities. The results show that, while the organization of acts responds, from the perspective of public relations, to the communicative needs of the organizations; Events are tools that, from the perspective of the Marketing Mix, allow meeting, mainly, the economic needs of companies

Big Data Assurance Evaluation: An SLA-Based Approach.

The Big Data community has started noticing that there is the need to complete Big Data platforms with assurance techniques proving the correct behavior of Big Data analytics and management. In this paper, we propose a Big Data assurance solution based on Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), focusing on a platform providing Model-based Big Data Analytics-as-a-Service (MBDAaaS)

Mapping the “housing with care” concept with stakeholders: insights from a UK case study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an early stage, exploratory case study of a proposed housing with care initiative (the Crichton Care Campus (CCC)). This sought the perspectives of a range of key stakeholders on the proposed model and how it might be best realised. The analyses of these findings show their relevance to debates on integrated housing with care, and reflect on the methodology used and its potential relevance to similar projects. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a transactive planning approach, where grounded views are sought from a variety of stakeholders. A purposive sample identified informants from relevant health, social care and housing organisations and nine semi-structured interviews were conducted. These were transcribed and data analysis was undertaken on an “interactive” basis, relating care theory to empirical expressions. Findings - The authors identify two contrasting orientations – inclusive “community-oriented” and professional “service-oriented”. This distinction provides the basis for a rudimentary conceptual map which can continue to be used in the planning process. Two significant variables within the conceptual map were the extent to which CCC should be intergenerational and as such, the degree to which care should come from formalised and self-care/informal sources. The potential to achieve an integrated approach was high with stakeholders across all sectors fully supporting the CCC concept and agreeing on the need for it to have a mixed tenure basis and include a range of non-care amenities. Originality/value- This paper offers originality in two respects. Methodologically, it describes an attempt to undertake early stage care planning using a needs led transactive methodology. In more practical terms, it also offers an innovative environment for considering any approach to care planning that actively seeks integration – based on an acknowledgement of complexity, a variety of perspectives and possible conflicts. The authors propose that the concepts of “community-orientation” and “service-orientation” are used as a helpful basis for planning negotiations, making implicit divergences explicit and thus better delineated

Integrating sustainability into Project Management practices: the perspective of professional institutions

This is paper is based on a work in progress research project, therefore results and conclusions are preliminary.Synopsis: ‘Sustainability’ in its broadest meaning has acquired a great importance in modern society, and consequently influences almost every aspect of social life. This paper analyses the transformation that the project management profession is undergoing towards the integration of sustainability into its core values and practices.Research design: This research uses qualitative data from a mix of semi-structured interviews and archival evidence – professional bodies of knowledge,codes of ethics, newsletters, websites, social media platforms, blogs, onlinedatabases, and international standards – with the intention of answering thefollowing research question: ‘what is the influence of professional associationswith regard to the institutionalizing of sustainability practices into projectmanagement (PM) tools and techniques?’Main findings: There are different players which influence, in different ways, thePM profession. Our analysis reveals that the nature of these actors is veryheterogeneous, and the influence of the professional world of PM on theinstitutionalization of sustainable project management is manifested in thedifferent actions carried on by the entities we highlighted above. Therefore, theshift towards SPM is the result of the combination of each actor’s individualstrategy (Muzio, Brock, & Suddaby, 2013).Research implications: The analysis of sustainable project management (SPM) isaimed at contributing to the PM academic literature, describing thetransformation of PM practices, and to the practitioner literature, engaging withPM professional associations on the way they introduce the set of new practices