Resource-based modeling and simulation of business processes

International audienceThe simulation-based analysis of business processes (BPs) is a key activity at various phases of the BP lifecycle, from the design phase, to predict the process behavior, down to the execution and improvement phases, to recover from possible performance downgrades and/or improve the process performance. The BP analysis is usually carried out taking as input the BP description in a given BP modeling language. This paper specifically addresses BPs described in BPMN (Business Process Model & Notation) and introduces an approach that exploits both model-driven principles and the DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) formalism to first annotate the BPMN model with the allocation of task resources described in terms of performance and reliability properties and then transform the annotated BPMN model into a DEVS-based model, which can be eventually executed to get the analysis results of interest. The BPMN annotation is carried out by use of PyBPMN, a lightweight BPMN extension that allows business analysts to specify the allocation of task resources and their properties in terms of both time-related attributes and reliability attributes. The paper overviews the proposed approach and gives the details of the DEVS components that are used to model the behavior of the corresponding BPMN primitives

A Model transformation framework for the automated building of performance models from UML models

In order to effectively validate the performance of software systems throughout their development cycle it is necessary to continuously build performance models from software models and then use the obtained models to check whether the system is being developed according to its performance requirements. The model building activity is a critical and effort-consuming activity. Several approaches have been envisaged to endow software designers with tools that automatically build ready-to-evaluate performance models from software development models. One essential requirement of such tools, often disregarded by current approaches, is a high degree of interoperability with software development tools, which has the positive effect of reducing both the level of required expertise in performance theory and the burden of learning separate tools. This paper introduces a framework for transforming source software models into target performance models. The transformation requires a clear understanding of the abstract syntax and semantics of both the source and target models, which is obtained by use of metamodeling techniques for defining the abstract syntax of models, the interrelationships between model elements and the model transformation rules. In the paper case, the framework is applied to the transformation of source models of UML type into target models of LQN (layered queueing network) type. The proposed approach is founded on the precepts recently introduced by model-driven development (MDA) and makes use of the set of related standards (MOF, QVT, XMI). This allows to obtain a high degree of automation, so that interoperable model transformation tools can be implemented in a timely and efficient way, leading to improvements in terms of software designers' productivity and system quality

Structural and functional studies on TDP-43, a novel splicing regulator

TDP-43 is an RNA-binding protein with particular predilection for UG repeats that was shown to regulate transcription, to mediate mRNA stability and to inhibit splicing in the CFTR and Apo All genes.Recently, TDP-43 has been found to be the major disease protein in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Fronto-temporal Lobar dementia [ftld]. Objective of this thesis was to characterize the function of TDP-43 with in-vitro and in vivostudies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Resource-based Modeling and Simulation of Business Processes

The simulation-based analysis of business processes (BPs) is a key activity at various phases of the BP lifecycle. from the design phase, to predict the process behavior, down to the execution and improvement phases, to recover from possible performance downgrades and/or improve the process performance. The BP analysis is usually carried out taking as input the BP description in a given BP modeling language. This paper specifically addresses BPs described in BPMN (Business Process Model & Notation) and introduces an approach that exploits both model-driven principles and the DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) formalism to first annotate the BPMN model with the allocation of task resources described in terms of performance and reliability properties and then transform the annotated BPMN model into a DEVS-based model, which can be eventually executed to get the analysis results of interest. The BPMN annotation is carried out by use of PyBPMN, a lightweight BPMN extension that allows business analysts to specify the allocation of task resources and their properties in terms of both time-related attributes and reliability attributes. The paper overviews the proposed approach and gives the details of the DEVS components that are used to model the behavior of the corresponding BPMN primitives

A Domain specific language for the definition of extended queueing network models

The use of design patterns and modular decomposition for the development of component-based software products brings significant improvements in terms of several quality attributes (e.g., reusability, reliability, maintainability). In addition, the modular design of interacting software components allows the foundation of a flexible Domain Specific Language (DSL) that acts as a model description language rather than a coding language, bringing significant savings in terms of development effort. This is particularly true in the field of simulation, in which the use of a common language both to represent and to simulate a given simulation model practically eliminates the need and the effort to fill the gap between the model specification and the simulator implementation. This paper introduces the design features of jEQN, a language for the specification and implementation of simulation models based on extended queueing networks. Details concerning the application of design patterns, modular decomposition and generic type parameters are also presented

Setting Systems and Simulation Life Cycle Processes Side by Side

The long lasting close interaction between modeling and simulation (M&S) and systems engineering disciplines is leading to a more integrative approach, namely M&S based systems engineering. It emphasizes the extensive employment of modeling and simulation all through the life cycle of systems engineering efforts. The success of M&S based systems engineering depends on the quality of simulations utilized. Further, simulations are also man-made systems, thus they necessitate a system engineering approach. Utilization of systems engineering for engineering of simulation systems is called simulation systems engineering. While ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 proposes process descriptions for life cycle of systems, IEEE 1730-2010 recommends a life cycle process framework for simulations. This paper addresses the comparison, integration and augmentation of these two standards, thereby attempting to contribute towards an integrative life cycle process

A BPMN extension for modeling non functional properties of business processes

Business Process Management (BPM) is an holistic approach for describing, analyzing, executing, managing and improving large enterprise business processes, which can be seen as collections of related tasks executed to accomplish well-defined goals. This paper introduces a notation for the description of a business process in terms of both functional and non-functional properties, specifically addressing the performance and reliability characterization of a business process. In the BPM context, the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) is the de-facto standard for the high-level description of business processes. Unfortunately BPMN does not support the characterization of the business process in terms of non-functional properties such as performance and reliability. To overcome such limitation, this paper introduces PyBPMN (Performability-enabled BPMN), a lightweight BPMN extension for the specification of properties that address both performance and reliability. The proposed extension is based on an approach that exploits principles and standards introduced by the Model Driven Architecture (MDA), thus obtaining significant advantages in terms of easy customization and improved automation. The paper also presents an example application of the proposed extension to show how it enables the automated transformation of a business process model into a parameterized performance model whose execution gives insights about the process behavior

Modeling-To-Simulation: Transformation Approaches to Boost Automation in Modeling & Simulation

The use of automated transformation approaches based on model-driven principles and standards promises to be a significant enablcr of time, effort and cost savings in the Modeling and Simulation (M&S) field. This paper specifically addresses the distributed simulation (DS) domain, which allows to naturally cope with the ever growing complexity and distributed nature of modern systems. Unfortunately, the use of DS in a system development lifecycle can be a challenging issue due to the fact that: i) the use of DS frameworks and standards requires significant and specific technical skills system engineers are usually not familiar with; ii) the development of a DS is an effort-, time- demanding and error-prone activity. In this respect, this paper shows the benefits of using a model-driven transformation approach to the development of DS systems. Specifically, the paper presents and compares two main approaches, namely the conventional approach, based on a standard model- driven process, and an innovative approach that exploits the SimArch layered architecture

Report of Collaborative Modeling and Simulation (CoMetS) Track of WETICE 2019

International audienceThe 7th edition of the CoMetS track aims to bring together leading researchers and practitioners from both the modeling and simulation (M&S) community and the collaborative environments community, in order to focus on innovative research contributions that address both the use of collaborative technologies in the field of M&S and the use of M&S methodologies and tools to address the design of collaborative systems. This paper reports on the motivations of the track and the organization of its seventh edition