Feature-Aware Verification

A software product line is a set of software products that are distinguished in terms of features (i.e., end-user--visible units of behavior). Feature interactions ---situations in which the combination of features leads to emergent and possibly critical behavior--- are a major source of failures in software product lines. We explore how feature-aware verification can improve the automatic detection of feature interactions in software product lines. Feature-aware verification uses product-line verification techniques and supports the specification of feature properties along with the features in separate and composable units. It integrates the technique of variability encoding to verify a product line without generating and checking a possibly exponential number of feature combinations. We developed the tool suite SPLverifier for feature-aware verification, which is based on standard model-checking technology. We applied it to an e-mail system that incorporates domain knowledge of AT&T. We found that feature interactions can be detected automatically based on specifications that have only feature-local knowledge, and that variability encoding significantly improves the verification performance when proving the absence of interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Strategies for product-line verification: Case studies and experiments

mission-critical and safety-critical applications. Hence, researchers are developing verification approaches that follow different strategies to cope with the specific properties of product lines. While the research community is discussing the mutual strengths and weaknesses of the different strategies—mostly at a conceptual level—there is a lack of evidence in terms of case studies, tool implementations, and experiments. We have collected and prepared six product lines as subject systems for experimentation. Furthermore, we have developed a modelchecking tool chain for C-based and Java-based product lines, called SPLVERIFIER, which we use to compare sample-based and family-based strategies with regard to verification performance and the ability to find defects. Based on the experimental results and an analytical model, we revisit the discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of product-line–verification strategies. I

Detection of Feature Interactions using Feature-Aware Verification

Abstract—A software product line is a set of software products that are distinguished in terms of features (i.e., end-user–visible units of behavior). Feature interactions —situations in which the combination of features leads to emergent and possibly critical behavior — are a major source of failures in software product lines. We explore how feature-aware verification can improve the automatic detection of feature interactions in software product lines. Feature-aware verification uses product-line–verification techniques and supports the specification of feature properties along with the features in separate and composable units. It integrates the technique of variability encoding to verify a product line without generating and checking a possibly exponential number of feature combinations. We developed the tool suite SPLVERIFIER for feature-aware verification, which is based on standard model-checking technology. We applied it to an e-mail system that incorporates domain knowledge of AT&T. We found that feature interactions can be detected automatically based on specifications that have only local knowledge. I

Classification of Rheumatoid Joint Inflammation Based on Laser Imaging

We describe a novel system for the examination of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Basis of this system is a laser imaging technique which is sensitive to the optical characteristics of finger joint tissue. From the laser images acquired at baseline and followup, finger joints can automatically be classified according to whether the inflammatory status has improved or worsened. To perform the classification task, various linear and kernel-based systems were implemented and their performances were compared. Based on the results presented in this paper, one can conclude that the laser-based imaging permits a reliable classification of pathological finger joints, making it a sensitive method for detecting arthritic changes. I