Combining Exception Handling and Replication for Improving the Reliability of Agent Software

Abstract. Exception handling and replication are two complementary mechanisms that increase software reliability. Exception handling helps programmers in controlling situations in which the normal execution flow of a program cannot continue. Replication handles system failures through redundancy. Combining both techniques is a first step towards building a trustworthy software engineering framework. This paper presents some of the results from the Facoma project. It proposes the specification of an exception handling system for replicated agents as an adaptation of the Sage proposal. It then describes its implementation in the Dimax replicated agent environment

Automated architectural component classification using concept lattices

While the use of components grows in software development, building effective component directories becomes a critical issue as architects need help to search components in repositories. During the life-cycle of component-based software, several tasks, such as construction from scratch or component substitution, would benefit from an efficient component classification and retrieval. In this paper, we analyze how we can build a classification of components using their technical description (i.e. functions and interfaces) in order to help automatic as well as manual composition and substitution. The approach is implemented in the CoCoLa prototype, which is dedicated to Fractal component directory management and validated through a case study.Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzad

CIEL 2014 : Conférence en IngénieriE du Logiciel

National audienceLa conférence CIEL (Conférence en IngénieriE du Logiciel) remplace depuis 2012 les journées IDM (journées sur l'Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles) et la conférence LMO (Langages et Modèles à Objets).Elle reprend donc leurs thématiques, liées aux technologies à objets et à l'ingénierie des modèles dans le domaine des langages, de la représentation des connaissances, des bases de données, du génie logiciel et des systèmes. Partant de ces thématiques historiques, la conférence étend naturellement les thèmes abordés aux agents, aspects, composants, services et lignes de produits logiciels.Son objectif est de réunir les chercheurs et industriels intéressés par ces différentes thématiques pour faciliter l'échange d'idées, la diffusion de résultats et d'expériences, la structuration de la communauté et l'identification de nouveaux défis. CIEL 2014 s’associe à la conférence CAL (Conférences francophone sur les Architectures Logicielles) pour partager des présentations communes sur la thématique de L’Ingénierie des Modèles appliquée aux processus de conception d’architectures afin de rapprocher les travaux des deux communautés. Cela fait notamment référence à : -la prise en compte et la traçabilité des exigences dans le processus de conception-la sémantique des modèles d’architecture et leur composition,-la réutilisation de modèles d’architectures,-l’exécution de modèles d’architecture,-la prise en compte de la variabilité et de l’évolution des modèles d’architectures-la validation d’architecture

Specification of an Exception Handling System for a Replicated Agent Environment

Exception handling and replication are two mechanisms that increase the reliability of applications. Exception handling helps programmers to control situations in which the normal flow of a program execution cannot continue. Replication handles system failures. Exceptions handling and replication do not apply to the same situations and are two complementary mechanisms to increase the reliability of applications. Moreover, each technique can benefit from the other: exception handling capabilities can rely on replication mechanisms while replication can be further secured by using exceptions. The paper proposes a specification of an execution history oriented exception handling system for an agent language and middleware providing replication. The paper proposes an original signaling algorithms taking into account replicated agents and a rationale of how exception handling and replication mechanisms can combine to increase the capability of programmers to achieve reliable agent-based applications. 1

Mission-oriented Autonomic Configuration of Pervasive Systems

Abstract—In pervasive systems, software applications are dynamically composed from the services provided by the smart devices spread in the local environment. A system must react to changes that occur in the environment and reconfigure applications in order to maintain their operation and assume their missions at its best. This paper advocates the need for a mission description language, which enables service compositions. The system uses mission definitions to calculate a configuration that best executes them with the currently available resources. This optimal configuration is intended to maximize the utility of the system, considering user preferences, available resources, and mission criticality. Contextual adaptations are captured in the mission language as modes and strategies, that respectively describe evolutions of the assigned mission set and alternate ways to execute missions. These mechanisms leverage service component approach, for the dynamic deployment of missions, and agentorientation, for autonomic configuration management. Keywords-pervasive system; autonomic computing; context-awareness; service composition language. I