On the adequacy of i* models for representing and analyzing software architectures

In order to work at the software architecture level, specification languages and analysis techniques are needed. There exist many proposals that serve that purpose, but few of them address architecture and requirements altogether, leaving a gap between both disciplines. Goal-oriented approaches are suitable for bridging this gap because they allow representing architecture-related concepts (components, nodes, files, etc.) and more abstract concepts (goals, non-functional requirements, etc.) by using the same constructs. In this paper we explore the suitability of the i* goal-oriented approach for representing software architectures. For doing so, we check its properties against the ones suitable for Architecture Description Languages and we define some criteria for solving the unfulfilled aspects in representing the architectures. This paper assumes basic notions on i*.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

MORPH: A Reference Architecture for Configuration and Behaviour Self-Adaptation

An architectural approach to self-adaptive systems involves runtime change of system configuration (i.e., the system's components, their bindings and operational parameters) and behaviour update (i.e., component orchestration). Thus, dynamic reconfiguration and discrete event control theory are at the heart of architectural adaptation. Although controlling configuration and behaviour at runtime has been discussed and applied to architectural adaptation, architectures for self-adaptive systems often compound these two aspects reducing the potential for adaptability. In this paper we propose a reference architecture that allows for coordinated yet transparent and independent adaptation of system configuration and behaviour

An Architecture-Centric Approach for Information System Architecture Modeling, Enactement and Evolution

International audienc

Higher-order architectural connectors

We develop a notion of higher-order connector towards supporting the systematic construction of architectural connectors for software design. A higher-order connector takes connectors as parameters and allows for services such as security protocols and fault-tolerance mechanisms to be superposed over the interactions that are handled by the connectors passed as actual arguments. The notion is first illustrated over CommUnity, a parallel program design language that we have been using for formalizing aspects of architectural design. A formal, algebraic semantics is then presented which is independent of any Architectural Description Language. Finally, we discuss how our results can impact software design methods and tools

A Framework for Constraint-Based Deployment and Autonomic Management of Distributed Applications

We propose a framework for deployment and subsequent autonomic management of component-based distributed applications. An initial deployment goal is specified using a declarative constraint language, expressing constraints over aspects such as component-host mappings and component interconnection topology. A constraint solver is used to find a configuration that satisfies the goal, and the configuration is deployed automatically. The deployed application is instrumented to allow subsequent autonomic management. If, during execution, the manager detects that the original goal is no longer being met, the satisfy/deploy process can be repeated automatically in order to generate a revised deployment that does meet the goal.Comment: Submitted to ICAC-0