Designinig Coordination among Human and Software Agents

The goal of this paper is to propose a new methodology for designing coordination between human angents and software agents and, ultimately, among software agents. The methodology is based on two key ideas. The first is that coordination should be designed in steps, according to a precise software engineering methodology, and starting from the specification of early requirements. The second is that coordination should be modeled as dependency between actors. Two actors may depend on one another because they want to achieve goals, acquire resources or execute a plan. The methodology used is based on Tropos, an agent oriented software engineering methodology presented in earlier papers. The methodology is presented with the help of a case study

Comparing Agent Software Development Methodologies Using the Waterfall Model

This paper explores three widely published agent-based software development methodologies, Multiagent Systems Engineering Methodology (MaSE), Prometheus, and Tropos, using the traditional Waterfall model of software engineering as a baseline. Differences between the methodologies are examined and gaps between the agent-based methodologies and the Waterfall approach are identified

Using a situational method engineering approach to identify reusable method fragments from the secure TROPOS methodology

Situational method engineering (SME) has as a focus a repository of method fragments, gleaned from extant methodologies and best practice. Using one such example, the OPF (OPEN Process Framework) repository, we identify deficiencies in the current SME support for securityrelated issues in the context of agent-oriented software engineering. Specifically, theoretical proposals for the development of reusable security-related method fragments from the agent-oriented methodology Secure Tropos are discussed. Since the OPF repository has already been enhanced by fragments from Tropos and other non-security-focussed agent-oriented software development methodologies, the only method fragments from Secure Tropos not already contained in this repository are those that are specifically security-related. These are identified, clearly defined and recommended for inclusion in the current OPF repository of method fragments. ©JOT 2010

Using Tropos methodology to Model an Integrated Health Assessment System

This paper presents a case study to illustrate the features and the stages of the Tropos methodology. Tropos is an agent-oriented software engineering methodology that covers four development stages: early and late requirements analysis, architectural design and detail design. The electronic Single Assessment Process (eSAP), and electronic system to deliver the integrated health assessment of health and social care needs of older people is used as the case study throughout the paper. Furthermore, a preliminary analysis on extending Tropos to accommodate security concerns is presented

Using the Tropos Approach to Inform the UML Design: An Experiment Report

Tropos is an agent-oriented software engineering (AOSE) methodology, based on the notion of actors, with goals and plans, and spanning all the phases of software development, from the very early phases of requirements analysis down to the actual implementation. The effectiveness of such methodology in the production of better design documents is evaluated in this study, by investigating the null hypothesis “using the Tropos Methodology before the analysis and design phases can produce a more accurate and complete set of UML diagrams than when no such technology is used”. The evaluation of a real case scenario was given as part of a coursework in a BSc module at the University of East London, and the Tropos and UML diagrams were requested as part of the deliverables. The results of how students performed in such tasks, and how the Tropos approach helped in the drawing of the UML diagrams, are presented here. The results show that generally, and confined to this experiment, the Tropos methodology has not helped in the design of the UML diagrams, and that students failed in understanding the link between the two methodologies

Location-based software modeling and analysis: Tropos-based approach

Abstract. The continuous growth of interest in mobile applications makes the concept of location essential to design and develop software systems. Location-based software is supposed to be able to monitor the surrounding location and choose accordingly the most appropriate behavior. In this paper, we propose a novel conceptual framework to model and analyze location-based software. We mainly focus on the social facets of locations adopting concepts such as actor, resource, and location-based behavior. Our approach is based on Tropos methodology and allows the analyst to elicit and model software requirements according to the different locations where the software will operate. We propose an extension of Tropos modeling and adapt its process to suit well with the development of location-based software. The proposed framework also includes automated analysis techniques to reason about the relation between location and location-based software.

Applying tropos to socio-technical system design and runtime configuration

Recent trends in Software Engineering have introduced the importance of reconsidering the traditional idea of software design as a socio-tecnical problem, where human agents are integral part of the system along with hardware and software components. Design and runtime support for Socio-Technical Systems (STSs) requires appropriate modeling techniques and non-traditional infrastructures. Agent-oriented software methodologies are natural solutions to the development of STSs, both humans and technical components are conceptualized and analyzed as part of the same system. In this paper, we illustrate a number of Tropos features that we believe fundamental to support the development and runtime reconfiguration of STSs. Particularly, we focus on two critical design issues: risk analysis and location variability. We show how they are integrated and used into a planning-based approach to support the designer in evaluating and choosing the best design alternative. Finally, we present a generic framework to develop self-reconfigurable STSs

Supporting Tropos concepts in Agent OPEN

The growth of interest in agent-orientation as a new paradigm has introduced the need for developing concepts, tools and techniques for modeling and engineering agent-based software systems. Object technology has been supporting the development of information systems for many years but is now slowly evolving to encompass more recent ideas relating to the concept of "agent". Integrating agent concepts into existing OO methodologies has resulted in several agent-oriented methodologies, one of which is Agent OPEN. In this paper, we evaluate the existing Agent OPEN description against ideas formulated within Tropos, an agent-oriented software development methodology. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004