Showing papers by "Pierre Verbaeten published in 2008"

DAVIM: Adaptable Middleware for Sensor Networks

Abstract: Middleware services facilitate sensor-network application development. DAVIM is adaptable middleware that enables dynamic management of services and isolation between simultaneously running applications.

Provable Protection against Web Application Vulnerabilities Related to Session Data Dependencies

Abstract: Web applications are widely adopted and their correct functioning is mission critical for many businesses. At the same time, Web applications tend to be error prone and implementation vulnerabilities are readily and commonly exploited by attackers. The design of countermeasures that detect or prevent such vulnerabilities or protect against their exploitation is an important research challenge for the fields of software engineering and security engineering. In this paper, we focus on one specific type of implementation vulnerability, namely, broken dependencies on session data. This vulnerability can lead to a variety of erroneous behavior at runtime and can easily be triggered by a malicious user by applying attack techniques such as forceful browsing. This paper shows how to guarantee the absence of runtime errors due to broken dependencies on session data in Web applications. The proposed solution combines development-time program annotation, static verification, and runtime checking to provably protect against broken data dependencies. We have developed a prototype implementation of our approach, building on the JML annotation language and the existing static verification tool ESC/Java2, and we successfully applied our approach to a representative J2EE-based e-commerce application. We show that the annotation overhead is very small, that the performance of the fully automatic static verification is acceptable, and that the performance overhead of the runtime checking is limited.

A domain-specific middleware layer using AOSD: next-generation digital news publishing

Abstract: In this demonstrator we illustrate the design and development of a domain-specific middleware layer for supporting a publishing infrastructure. The design of the middleware layer is based on an aspect-oriented architecture which has been iteratively defined by applying state-of-the-art aspect-oriented methods. The demonstrator shows the implementation and deployment of the middleware layers on top of JBoss, using the JBoss AOP framework.

Policy-based management of middleware for distributed sensor applications

Abstract: Contemporary distributed software systems have become extremely heterogeneous, dynamic and large-scale. They include back-end servers, regular PCs and various mobile and embedded devices, as well as diverse network infrastructures, such as sensor networks. However, these factors make manual management of the distributed system and its installed software extremely complex. In this position paper we seek for an architectural solution for a middleware that supports autonomic management of these distributed software systems through a policy-based approach. This middleware architecture suggests the introduction of a closed control loop on top of a highly customizable middleware architecture. We describe the key research challenges that still remain open for discussion and propose a plan to tackle them.

A comprehensive analysis of an intelligent platform for supply chain management

Abstract: This reports makes a comprehensive analysis and requirements study of a software platform for intellingent supply chain management by using wireless sensor networks as main innovative technology. The analysis includes both a business and software study of the supply chain’s stakeholders, their activities and requirements, and to what extend they can benefit from using a common software platform that connects and exchanges data with all involved parties. A comprehensive analysis of an intelligent platform for supply chain management Nelson Matthys, Sam Michiels, Wouter Joosen, and Pierre Verbaeten IBBT-DistriNet, Dept. of Computer Science, K.U.Leuven Celestijnenlaan 200A, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium {nelson.matthys, sam.michiels}@cs.kuleuven.be Abstract This reports makes a comprehensive analysis and requirements study of a software platform for intellingent supply chain management by using wireless sensor networks as main innovative technology. The analysis includes both a business and software study of the supply chain’s stakeholders, their activities and requirements, and to what extend they can benefit from using a common software platform that connects and exchanges data with all involved parties.This reports makes a comprehensive analysis and requirements study of a software platform for intellingent supply chain management by using wireless sensor networks as main innovative technology. The analysis includes both a business and software study of the supply chain’s stakeholders, their activities and requirements, and to what extend they can benefit from using a common software platform that connects and exchanges data with all involved parties. Acknowledgements Research for this report was funded by IBBT, the Interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology, and conducted in the context of the MultiTr@ns [1] project.

dEVOLVe:: Middleware support for software maintenance in distributed EVOLVing environments

Abstract: Distributed applications in evolving environments are typically difficult to maintain. Currently, human intervention is needed to maintain the application and adapt it to its changed environment. We need to: deploy application software on the added devices (buses), replace application software on the changed devices (e.g. to support the new advertisement display), and remove application software when no longer useful (e.g. because it requires an advertisement display which is removed). When the distributed environment becomes too large, or changes too often, manual software maintenance is no longer a feasible option. Automation is required. This paper reports on our ongoing work on dEVOLVe, a new OSGi based middleware platform which will automate some software maintenance tasks in ’distributed evolving environments’. dEVOLVe will detect changes in the distributed environment and will adapt the application accordingly. This way, the user is free from software maintenance tasks caused by the environment evolution.

Demo Proposal - dEVOLVe: Middleware Support for Application Deployment and Maintenance in Distributed EVOLVing Environments

Abstract: Deploying and maintaining non-distributed applications currently are easy tasks which often only require clicking a setup.exe icon. However, the deployment and maintenance of distributed applications in dynamic operational environments are significantly more complex. First, application software needs to be deployed, configured and updated on all devices of the operational environment. Second, the application composition often needs to be adapted when devices are added or removed, when network connections are broken or re-established, and when devices are adapted. Third, we must check that the dependencies between the application software on the different devices are met at all times. In this demo we present dEVOLVe, an extension for the OSGi framework which hides the complexities of dynamic distributed environments. Making distributed applications almost just as easy to deploy and maintain as non-distributed applications.