Robert Allen, Remi Douence and
David Garlan. Specifying and Analyzing Dynamic Software Architectures. In Proceedings of the 1998 Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering (FASE'98), Lisbon, Portugal, Springer. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 1382. March, 1998.
https://doi.org/10.1007/bfb0053581. An expanded version of the paper Specifying Dynamism in Software Architectures, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Workshop on Foundations of Component-Based Software Engineering, September 1997.
Abstract: A critical issue for complex component-based systems design is the modeling and analysis of architecture. One of the complicating factors in developing architectural models is accounting for systems whose architecture changes dynamically (during run time). This is because dynamic changes to architectural structure may interact in subtle ways with on-going computations of the system.
In this paper we argue that it is possible and valuable to provide a modeling approach that accounts for the interactions between architectural reconfiguration and non-reconfiguration system functionality, while maintaining a separation of concerns between these two aspects of a system. The key to the approach is to use a uniform notation and semantic base for both reconfiguration and steady-state behavior, while at the same time providing syntactic separation between the two. As we will show, this permits us to view the architecture in terms of a set of possible architectural snapshots, each with its own steady-state behavior. Transitions between these snapshots are accounted for by special reconfiguration-triggering events.
Robert Allen and
David Garlan. Formal Modeling and Analysis of the HLA RTI. In Summary Report of the 1997 Spring Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, Florida, Institute for Simulation and Training. pp. 1153-1161. March, 1997. IST-CF-97-01.2.
Abstract: The HLA RTI is a complex artifact, supporting several classes of interaction (e.g., federation management, object management, time management). A critical challenge in producing an RTI architectural framework (and its associated simulation interface specifications) is to develop confidence that its specification is well-formed and complete. In this paper we describe on-going work in formally modelling the HLA both to document the standard more precisely, as well as to analyze it for anomalies, omissions, inconsistencies, and ambiguities. The technical basis for this work is the use of a formal architectural description language, called Wright, and its accompanying toolset.
Abstract: Large software systems require decompositional mechanisms in order to make them tractable. Traditionally, MILs and IDLs have played this role by providing notations based on definition/use bindings. In this paper we argue that current MIL/IDLs based on definition/use have some serious drawbacks. A significant problem is that they fail to distinguish between 'implementation' and 'interaction' relationships between modules. We propose an alternative model in which components interact along well-defined lines of communication - or connectors. Connectors are defined as protocols that capture the expected patterns of communication between modules. We show how this leads to a scheme that is much more expressive for architectural relationships, that allows the formal definition of module interaction, and that supports its own form of automated checks and formal reasoning.