Showing papers on "View model published in 1997"

Applying software product-line architecture

Abstract: Many organizations today are investing in software product-line architecture-for good reason: a well-executed architecture enables organizations to respond quickly to a redefined mission or to new and changing markets. It allows them to accelerate the introduction of new products and improve their quality, to reengineer legacy systems, and to manage and enhance the many product variations needed for international markets. However, technically excellent product line architectures do fail, often because they are not effectively used. Some are developed but never used; others lose value as product teams stop sharing the common architecture; still others achieve initial success, but fail to keep up with a rapidly growing product mix. Sometimes the architecture deterioration is not noticed at first, masked by what appears to be a productivity increase. To learn what factors determine the effective use of software architecture, the authors looked at Nortel (Northern Telecom), a company with nearly 20 years of experience developing complex software architecture for telecommunications product families. They identified six principles that help reduce the complexity of an evolving family of products and that support and maintain the effective use and integrity of the architecture.

Program understanding and maintenance with the CANTO environment

Abstract: During maintenance activities, the availability of integrated conceptual views that present software at different levels of abstraction, from software architecture to control and data flow relations at code level, is fundamental to understand and modify legacy systems. This paper presents CANTO (Code and Architecture Analysis Tool), a comprehensive program understanding and maintenance environment which integrates fine grained information with architectural views extracted from source code, giving the user control of what is being computed by analyses. The capabilities and usefulness of CANTO are illustrated with reference to a real understanding and maintenance task

A software architecture for integrated service robot development

Abstract: This paper presents a computational architecture that addresses the grand challenge problem of system integration. Robotics research has made many advances in sensory processing, control and planning, but few efforts focus on the problem of dynamically integrating the "best available" approaches into a single architecture to support development of integrated systems. The role of architecture is discussed, and a novel approach to intelligent robotic system architecture is presented. This new approach has resulted from the maturation of object-based software technology.

Information architecture practice: research-based recommendations for the practitioner

Abstract: A large-scale postal survey and six in-depth case studies on information architecture practice were carried out from 1992 to 1994 in the UK. The research findings suggest information architecture t...

From domain models to architecture frameworks

Abstract: Thispaper &resses how domain analysis served to help create reusable architectures and components in the development of a real-time embealied system. The subject domain is portable winders communication devices. The paper discwrses this experience in terms of discovering and developing reusable @neworkr for this domain. Some interesting differences between this approach and what is usually suggested as a process for developing frameworks are described.

Succeedings of the second international software architecture workshop (ISAW-2)

Abstract: Interest in software architecture as an area of research, education, and practice within software engineering has been growing steadily over the past decade. Software architecture is concerned with the principled study of large-grained software components, including their properties, relationships, and patterns of combination. It is becoming clear that one key to the effective development, operation, and evolution of software systems is the design and evaluation of appropriate architectures.As a complement to the Fourth Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE-4), whose theme was software architecture, the Second International Software Architecture Workshop (ISAW-2) brought together practitioners and researchers for two intense days of discussion and work. The ISAW-2 proceedings [6] were published in the Joint Proceedings of the SIGSOFT '96 Workshops, ACM Press, ISBN 0-89791-867-3.The participants were organized into three parallel working groups each focused on a different topic within software architecture.• Styles and Patterns---Techniques and models for centering software architecture activities on generally useful design methods, components, and assemblages of components.• Architecture Description---Languages and methods for the capture of architectural designs.• Tools and Methods---Automated aids for designing, evaluating, validating, implementing, and evolving software architectures.Tying these work groups together was the use of a common case study derived from a real-world architecture found in industry. Each working group studied this architecture from its particular perspective and, to a greater or lesser extent, used the case study to organize their discussions. It is interesting to note, for example, that the three groups created specialized depictions of the architecture for their discussion (see figures 6, 8, and 10).The case study was the architecture of the Call Center Customer Care (C4) System, which was developed by Andersen Consulting. A description of the architecture and some of its more interesting challenges appears in Section 2. It is reproduced here in the hopes that it might be prove of continued use to the community.Also appearing here are reports from each working group. The Styles and Patterns Working Group was led by Frances Paulisch, of Siemens, and Mary Shaw, of CMU. The group tried to uncover the styles and patterns that underlay various components of the C4 architecture. In the process, they defined a new kind of architectural style that they named the Data Ooze. The Architectural Description Working Group was led by Paul Clements, of the SEI, and Jeff Magee, of Imperial College. The group concentrated on identifying critical aspects of architectures that require description and on identifying important areas where further work in architectural description is needed. The Tools and Methods Working group was led by William Griswold, of UCSD, and Philippe Kruchten, of Rational. The group pretended to go through a development cycle for the C4 system in order to uncover various architectural tool and method needs.At the conclusion of the workshop, the working group chairs held a panel session in which each group asked a "challenge" question of the other two groups. The questions and responses appear in Section 5.2.We hope that these succeedings capture at least some essence of the very fruitful discussion that occurred at the workshop. Of course, this report cannot replace the benefits of actual attendance. The workshop will indeed continue, and we hope that the reader will be interested in attending a future ISAW.

Declarative specification of software architectures

Abstract: Scaling formal methods to large, complex systems requires methods of modeling systems at high levels of abstraction. In this paper, we describe such a method for specifying system requirements at the software architecture level. An architecture represents a way breaking down a system into a set of interconnected components. We use architecture theories to specify the behavior of a system in terms of the behavior of its components via a collection of axioms. The axioms describe the effects and limits of component variation and the assumptions a component can make about the environment provided by the architecture. As a result of the method the verification of the basic architecture can be separated from the verification of the individual component instantiations. We present an example of using architecture theories to model the task coordination architecture of a multi-threaded plan execution system.

Open controller architecture OSEC-II: architecture overview and prototype systems

Abstract: The Open System Environment (OSE) consortium, which consists of 18 major companies and a public research institute in Japan from various industries as of February 1997, has been organized to establish, demonstrate, and standardize an open architecture for easy implementation of high-value-add functions based on information technology in controllers of factory automation (FA) machines. This paper gives an overview of the OSEC-II (Open System Environment for Controllers, Version 2) architecture released by the consortium in August 1996, and reports on some prototype systems based on the architecture.

A generic model for software architectures

Abstract: In other industries, the idea of build corporate culture by establishing a common level of "best practice" is widely known and used. The architecture concept directly supports this goal for our industry and can help us improve problem areas dominated by organizational and social issues, such as health care organizations, educational systems, and so on. Our proposed reference model for architecture specification and development is organized around a set of aspects that structure concepts and rules; these, in turn, specify a conceptual architecture. We have added principles and guidelines to the concepts and rules to give a more complete picture of the architecture and to provide a place to store and communicate successfully applied design patterns and other knowledge related to the architecture. Adding architectural elements is a step toward a more constructive type of architecture representation. Our current research is focused on further refining these concepts and developing a formal specification of the architecture reference model. We are continuing to test our ideas in case studies, such as applying our model to the OSCA architecture and the application machine concept. We are also developing a prototype architecture editor, and we are testing different tools to learn more about integrating them into a real infrastructure and to learn what typical services an infrastructure must provide.

An Architecture Framework: From Business Strategies to Implementation

Abstract: Business systems architects and their clients increasingly suffer from information overload. To help businesses to partition and relate the kinds of architecture information they must build and share, we propose a framework consisting of three related models, each incorporating four tiers of subject matter connected by use cases.

Enterprise reference architectures : a research portfolio

Abstract: The paper addresses several unresolved classical questions about enterprise reference architectures. These questions are discussed in light of current developments in ITC, such as interoperability, component-based software, and configurable software.

A quality-based analysis of architecture recovery environments

Abstract: Architecture recovery is a recent research area which aims at providing reverse engineering technologies to extract high-level architectural information from the source code of legacy systems. The authors review the main (only?) architecture recovery environments proposed thus far. The environments are analysed with respect to different quality attributes, and their features and limitations are discussed. This allows one to highlight problems yet to be addressed in the area and, for some of them, suggest possible alternatives. They believe that this analysis is useful for the design of more effective architecture recovery tools.

The system integration architecture: a framework for extended enterprise information systems

Abstract: Manufacturing and enterprise formation is changing dramatically with speed and response time key parameters in competitive success. Companies are forming extended or virtual enterprises to tap core competencies and speed up their response times. Unfortunately, current information systems are a major hindrance to the rapid formation of such organizations and often to the rapid response of a single company wanting to change the way it does business. The Systems Integration Architecture (SIA) project is a research project to identify and resolve issues in the rapid integration of dynamic heterogeneous hardware, software and typical in this agile world. SIA is an integration framework based on a new basis model and definition of integration which are briefly described. The background to SIA, some of the issues involved and the approach taken to address them within SIA are presented. Specifically, some of the critical issues in the design of an information infrastructures such as SIA are discussed

Designing the distributed architecture DIPS for cooperative software engineering

Abstract: Cooperative software engineering typically involves many actors and resources that cooperate in a complex distributed and heterogeneous world. In the DIPS (Distributed Integrated Process Services) project, a three-dimensional model is used for the definition, enactment and tracing of software development processes, which expresses both structure and evolution of such processes. This paper discusses how an optimal architecture was evaluated to implement the process model in a process support framework. Process-specific and general requirements are identified, and expected usage patterns of a DIPS-based environment are analysed. A set of potential architecture variants is proposed, and implications of the requirements and usage patterns on the variants are discussed qualitatively. An evaluation of the architecture alternatives leads to the design of the hybrid DIPS architecture based on distributed heterogeneous objects. The prototype DIPS implementation is briefly outlined.

The many aspects of an IT-architecture

Abstract: An IT-architecture can be viewed as a high-level design that supports and restricts the construction of IT-systems of a given type. Starting from a list of general requirements, this paper gives an overview of the dimensions of such a design. In addition, the various, often contradicting, architectural views that are relevant for the various stakeholders are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the modeling of the system behavior and the related timing and dependability constraints. Although, these issues are discussed in an object-oriented context, the underlying principles hold for other modeling techniques as well.

Enterprise transition system for a distributed infrastructure

Abstract: An automated system transitions an entire enterprise to a distributed infrastructure. The system includes a process for organizing and managing the transition, a multi-tiered client/server architecture that adheres to open systems standards, a system to automate the transition of existing applications to this architecture, and a system to enable the creation or modification of applications based on this architecture.

An object-oriented system architecture for general image processing systems

Abstract: An object-oriented system architecture for general image processing systems is studied. Centering around functional requirements of general image processing systems, the system architecture is designed based on object-oriented technology. Such a system architecture has four main advantages over traditional structured design, such as openness, extendibility and development platforms independence etc. By adopting the architecture, a prototypical system of general image processing is implemented based on the Document/View structure with C++. Implementation of the system testifies that such an object-oriented architecture is effective for developing general image processing systems.

Enterprise Java

Abstract: Rajeev Arora is a Founder and Principal of his consulting company, SystemSmiths, based in Melbourne, Australia. Over the last couple of years, he has been focusing on distributed application architectures, distributed SDLC, WWW applications development and web site development. Rajeev, in his 17 years in the industry, has developed technical and application architectures for a variety of corporations in Australia, New Zealand and India.

Architecture Perspective: The Architecture of Global Access.

Abstract: The Internet is about access-on the simplest level, access to data, to information and to knowledge; on a more complex level, access to the processing of knowledge; and on the most complex level, access to individuals, to organizations and to government. This article thus describes the architecture of information access.

The national its architecture: a framework for its infrastructure

Abstract: Completed in June 1996, the National Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Architecture shows how individual ITS services can be linked together to create intermodal and interoperable systems that better serve travelers and system managers in all areas. The ITS architecture consists of a logical architecture and a physical architecture. The logical architecture defines eight major processes and associated information flows: managing traffic, managing commercial vehicles, providing vehicle monitoring and control, managing transit, managing emergency services, providing driver and traveler services, providing electronic payment services, and planning system deployment and implementation. The physical architecture allocates the processes of the logical architecture to 19 major physical subsystems that are organized into four basic physical classes: transportation management centers, roadside equipment, vehicles, and travelers. The physical architecture addresses three major layers of infrastructure. The transportation layer deals with the transportation infrastructure and operations of ITS, the communications layer identifies how existing and developing commericial or dedicated communication systems and open protocols can support ITS services, and the institutional layer outlines possible roles and relationships among public and private institutions.

Intelligent Architecture: Desktop VR for Complex Strategic Design in Architecture and Planning

Abstract: The most difficult problems in architecture occur on the boundaries between different disciplines where solutions to problems in one domain create problems in others. These interdomain problems are also amongst the most difficult to train designers to deal with since no one understands properly the dynamics of the interactions. Currently, computers are widely used in the later stages of managing construction production information, but tend only to be of limited use early on for design decision support. The Intelligent Architecture project aims to bring forward the use of computing to the earliest stages of design when the most critical strategic decisions are taken that affect the resolution of interdomain problems. By using three dimensional object-based representations of the design, linked to a range of analyses using ‘intelligent’ techniques (such as neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic) and OLE/DDE/AppleEvents communications to allow the program to draw on external applications and databases, the project provides simultaneous visualisations of the functional outcome of a proposed design from a range of points of view. Predictions are made, for instance, of energy use, construction cost and likely communications patterns between workers, and then presented to the designer in graphical or simple numeric form. This enables the designer to optimise from a number of points of view at once, at the same time as getting a full, real-time, interactive visualisation of what the building will look like. The system is implemented on Mac and PC hardware to ensure that it arrives on the decision taker’s desk, using the latest ‘games’ software real-time renderers to make interactive 3-d modelling and navigation intuitive enough for them to master. Our experience of these kinds of analytic tools in design suggests that one of the most useful aspects of the program will be in training designers to become intuitive about the way the different domains interact and we believe that the links to interactive 3-d representations will allow a closer link between intuition, experience and analysis in design. Early prototypes of the software are currenly under test.

Its system architecture

Abstract: This article describes the importance of a system architecture for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Focus is on the technical aspects of ITS system architecture construction. TEXT IN JAPANESE WITH SUMMARY IN ENGLISH

REAGERE: a reaction-based architecture for integration and control

Abstract: This research is concerned with the design, development and implementation of a unique reaction-based multi-agent architecture (REAGERE) to integrate and control a manufacturing domain, by combining concepts from distributed problem solving and multi-agent systems. This architecture represents an emerging concept of reifying the parts, equipment, and software packages of the domain as individual agent entities. This research also improves on earlier top- down automated manufacturing systems, that suffered from lack of flexibility, upgradability, overhead difficulties, and performance problems when presented with the uncertainty and dynamics of modern competitive environments. The versatility of the domain is enhanced with the independent development of the agents and the object-oriented events that permit the agents to communicate through the underlying blackboard architecture BB1. This bottom-up concept permits the architecture's integration to rely on the agents' interactions and their perceptions of the current environmental problem(s). Hence the control and coordination of the architecture are adaptable to the agents' reactions to dynamic situations. REAGERE was applied to a simulated predefined automated manufacturing domain for the purpose of controlling and coordinating the internal processes of this domain.

Intelligent agents in an enterprise management architecture

Abstract: This paper describes a viable enterprise management architecture for network, system and application management using management by delegation (MbD) and managed objects. The overall manager distributes policies and even programs using the electronic software distribution (ESD) component of the network and system management facility. The design is scalable, reliable and extensible. The architecture has proven workable in an environment containing 2000 machines.

Explaining conceptual models : An architecture and design principles

Abstract: An important activity in requirements engineering is validation, which is the process of checking whether a model correctly represents a piece of reality and the users' requirements. One technique for supporting validation is explanation generation which combines paraphrasing of a specification with question-answer facilities that interactively support a user in exploring a model. In this paper, we propose an architecture and design principles for constructing explanation generation systems for conceptual models. The architecture is partly based on Toulmin's argumentation model, which provides a framework for structuring arguments. We argue that this architecture assists in building explanation generation systems that are highly interactive, provide an adequate amount of information for different user categories, and support a wide range of validation techniques.

The European View on Global Enterprise Computer Application in Production and Engineering

Abstract: These two papers will give an overview on the European situation in the domain of Computer Application in Production and Engineering.

The I2Cnet service architecture paradigm.

Abstract: The main objective of the Image Indexing by Content network (I2Cnet) is to provide network-transparent content-based access to medical image archives based on a collection of interoperable Internet/intranet added-value services. This paper discusses I2Cnet, focusing on its service architecture paradigm. I2Cnet services such as image annotation, processing, description, and content-based retrieval, as well as the on-line collaboration service are presented. Exemplary user sessions are used to illustrate how virtual workspaces facilitate the interoperation of I2Cnet services, following the "network computer" approach to information management.