Towards a “Synchronous Reactive” UML profile?

The domain of Real-Time Embedded (RTE) systems was ackowledged as being largely influential on many feature additions to the recent UML2.0 standard [Björkander, M., FDL'03 Keynote address, 2003]. Work on UML1.4 Scheduling, Performance &; Time (SPT) profile also goes in that direction. Still, the paradigms underlying these modeling efforts are that of software components, running on a real-time OSs with physical time constraints and middleware (e.g., RT-Corba) concerns. In other areas of Embedded System Design other paradigms are at work, owing to codesign techniques at the border between software and hardware, or discrete time mathematical engineering (MATLAB/Simulink) and digital signal processing algorithms, etc. The paradigm of Synchronous Reactive (S/R) systems [Benveniste, A., Berry, G.: The synchronous approach to reactive and real-time systems. Proc. IEEE 79(9), 1270–1282 (1991); Benveniste, A., Caspi, P., Edwards, S., Halbwachs, N., Guernic, P.L., de Simone, R.: Synchronous languages twelve years later. Proc. IEEE 91(1), 64–83 (2003)], with discrete logical time and behavior decomposition into instantaneous reactions, proved quite natural in such areas to model mixed hardware/software System-Level Design (SLD). We describe here some of the modeling paradigms needed for a true S/R model framework, and corresponding diagrammatic interpretations. The synchronous reactive domain described here should be dealt with and included in the forthcoming UML profile for “Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time and Embedded systems” (MARTE), whose request for proposal was recently voted at OMG.     

UML 2.0 and agents: how to build agent-based systems with the new UML standard

Unified Modeling Language (UML 2.0) is the upcoming standard of the Object Management Group for specifying object-oriented software systems. In this paper, we will show how UML 2.0 can be applied for the specification of agent-based systems. Moreover, we will give a short overview on existing agent methodologies to have a reference what has to be specified in such systems. The paper concludes with some outlook for further research and open issues for specifying agents with UML 2.0.     

UML for systems engineering

The paper provides an introduction to the employment of Unified Modeling Language (UML) in systems engineering. The standard being developed for this purpose is the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) specification. This paper, while not dealing with SysML in depth, starts by observing several straightforward benefits of SysML and some of its (possibly, not so obvious) challenges. The primary objective of this paper is to provide pragmatic guidance to systems engineers, who want a jump start on SysML, by describing how to effectively use its base language (UML 2.0) in the context of systems engineering.     

Dependability analysis of DES based on MARTE and UML state machines models

UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a standard design notation which offers the state machines diagram to specify reactive software systems. The “Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time and Embedded systems” profile (MARTE) enables UML with capabilities for performance analysis. MARTE has been specialized in a “Dependability Analysis and Modeling” profile (DAM), then providing UML with dependability assets. In this work, we propose an approach for the automatic transformation of UML-DAM models into Deterministic and Stochastic Petri nets and the subsequent dependability analysis.     

Assert and negate revisited: Modal semantics for UML sequence diagrams

Live Sequence Charts (LSC) extend Message Sequence Charts (MSC), mainly by distinguishing possible from necessary behavior. They thus enable the specification of rich multi-modal scenario-based properties, such as mandatory, possible and forbidden scenarios. The sequence diagrams of UML 2.0 enrich those of previous versions of UML by two new operators, assert and negate, for specifying required and forbidden behaviors, which appear to have been inspired by LSC. The UML 2.0 semantics of sequence diagrams, however, being based on pairs of valid and invalid sets of traces, is inadequate, and prevents the new operators from being used effectively. We propose an extension of, and a different semantics for this UML language—Modal Sequence Diagrams (MSD)—based on the universal/existential modal semantics of LSC. In particular, in MSD assert and negate are really modalities, not operators. We define MSD as a UML 2.0 profile, thus paving the way to apply formal verification, synthesis, and scenario-based execution techniques from LSC to the mainstream UML standard. Preliminary version appeared in SCESM '06: Proc. of the 2006 Int. workshop on Scenarios and State Machines, Shanghai, China (May 2006) [15]. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No.287/02-1), and by The John von Neumann Minerva Center for the Development of Reactive Systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science.     

Architecting systems with UML 2.0

Signaling the end of the method wars, the Object Management Group (OMG) first standardized the Unified Modeling Language in 1997. The software industry rapidly accepted it as the standard modeling language for specifying software and system architectures. Although UML is primarily intended for general-purpose modeling, it's receiving extensive use in diverse specialized areas, such as business process modeling and real-time-systems modeling. Despite these successes, development tools have been slow to realize UMLs full potential. In this article, we look at some major improvements proposed for UML 2.0.     

The meaning of multiplicity of n-ary associations in UML

The concept of multiplicity in UML derives from that of cardinality in entity-relationship modeling techniques. The UML documentation defines this concept but at the same time acknowledges some lack of obviousness in the specification of multiplicities for n-ary associations. This paper shows an ambiguity in the definition given by UML documentation and proposes a clarification to this definition, as well as the use of outer and inner multiplicities as a simple extension to the current notation to represent other multiplicity constraints, such as participation constraints, that are equally valuable in understanding n-ary associations. Initial submission: 16 January 2002 / Revised submission: 17 October 2002 Published online: 2 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"A previous shorter version of this paper was presented under the title “Semantics of the Minimum Multiplicity in Ternary Associations in UML” at The 4th International Conference on the Unified Modeling Language-UML’2001, October 1–5 2001, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Springer Verlag, LNCS 2185, pp. 329–341.     

面向服务领域软件系统的模型驱动建模方法

面向服务体系结构(SOA)的工程化和建模对现有的建模技术和方法提出了新的挑战.提出了一种基于web服务的领域服务原型系统的快速模型驱动建模框架.从服务构件的概念和标准统一建模语言(UML)2.0的建模构造出发,给出了一个综合的服务软件建模过程.在此基础上,讨论了模型驱动的web服务的特性描述,重点是介绍一种基于UML扩充机制的面向web服务描述语言(WSDL)的建模技术.通过一个流通领域的面向服务企业资源计划(ERP)系统的实际建模,展示了所提方法是切实可行的.     

Visual modeling for Web 2.0 applications using model driven architecture approach

Mashup is now a major Web 2.0 technology because, rather than simply aggregating Web content, it combines various Web resources from other websites. Considering Web 2.0 mashups from a software engineering perspective, a visual modeling approach is crucial. Current Web 2.0 developments, however, do not support a conceptual modelling for Web 2.0 applications. This leads to inefficient development processes and a low potential for reuse. The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose modeling language that may be used in widely varying application domains. However, UML often lacks elements for modeling and representing concrete concepts of specific domains such as Web 2.0 mashup modeling. To address these shortcomings, this study proposes Web2.0MUML, a Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach and UML profile for modeling Web 2.0 mashups. The Web2.0MUML profile extends UML by using a profile mechanism for Web 2.0 mashup modeling that presents the relevant structural properties of Web 2.0 at the conceptual level.     

Model transformations in the UPES/UPSoC development process for embedded systems

Model-based development (MBD) aims at combining modeling languages with model transformers and code generators. Modeling languages, like profiles of the Unified Modeling Language (UML), are increasingly being adopted for specific domains of interest to alleviate the complexity of platforms and express domain concepts effectively. Moreover, system development processes based on automatic model transformations are widely required to improve the productivity and quality of the developed systems. In this paper, we show how MBD principles and automatic model transformations provide the basis for the unified process for embedded systems (UPES) development process and its unified process for system-on-chip (SoC) (UPSoC) subprocess. They have been defined to foster in a systematic and seamless manner a model-based design methodology based on the UML2 and UML profiles for the C/SystemC programming languages, which we developed to improve the current industrial system design flow in the embedded systems and system-on-chip area. This work is supported in part by the project Model-driven methodologies and techniques for embedded systems design and analysis based on UML, Abstract State Machines, and SystemC at STMicroelectronics, AST R&I of Agrate Brianza (MI), Italy.     

In practice: UML software architecture and design description

The Unified Modeling Language has attracted many organizations and practitioners. UML is now the de facto modeling language for software development. Several features account for its popularity: it's a standardized notation, rich in expressivity; UML 2.0 provides 13 diagram types that enable modeling several different views and abstraction levels. Furthermore, UML supports domain-specific extensions using stereotypes and tagged values. Finally, several case tools integrate UML modeling with other tasks such as generating code and reverse-engineering models from code. Our study focused on UML use and model quality in actual projects rather than on its adequacy as a notation or language.     

All-Pairs Shortest Paths with Real Weights in <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis><Superscript>3</Superscript>/log <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>) Time

We describe an O(n ³/log n)-time algorithm for the all-pairs-shortest-paths problem for a real-weighted directed graph with n vertices. This slightly improves a series of previous, slightly subcubic algorithms by Fredman (SIAM J. Comput. 5:49–60, 1976), Takaoka (Inform. Process. Lett. 43:195–199, 1992), Dobosiewicz (Int. J. Comput. Math. 32:49–60, 1990), Han (Inform. Process. Lett. 91:245–250, 2004), Takaoka (Proc. 10th Int. Conf. Comput. Comb., Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., vol. 3106, pp. 278–289, Springer, 2004), and Zwick (Proc. 15th Int. Sympos. Algorithms and Computation, Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., vol. 3341, pp. 921–932, Springer, 2004). The new algorithm is surprisingly simple and different from previous ones. A preliminary version of this paper appeared in Proc. 9th Workshop Algorithms Data Struct. (WADS), Lect. Notes Comput. Sci., vol. 3608, pp. 318–324, Springer, 2005.     

UML 2.0—Neue Möglichkeiten und alte Probleme

Die inzwischen in einer stabilisierten Entwurfsfassung vorliegende Revision der weit verwendeten Unified Modeling Language (UML) zur Version 2.0 verspricht einige Neuerungen,welche die Möglichkeiten der objektorientierten Entwicklung erweitern sollen. Die Revision der Sprache setzt sich neben der Erweiterung der Ausdrucksmächtigkeit auch die Präzisionssteigerung der angebotenen graphischen Primitive zum Ziel. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt überblicksartig die wesentlichen Neuerungen der UML 2.0 vor und beleuchtet kritisch fortdauernde Unzulänglichkeiten des Sprachansatzes. Autorenadressen siehe Beitragsende     

How effective is UML modeling ?

Modeling has become a common practice in modern software engineering. Since the mid 1990s the Unified Modeling Language (UML) has become the de facto standard for modeling software systems. The UML is used in all phases of software development: ranging from the requirement phase to the maintenance phase. However, empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of modeling in software development is few and far apart. This paper aims to synthesize empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of modeling using UML in software development, with a special focus on the cost and benefits.     

基于时序描述逻辑的UML顺序图形式化研究

在统一建模语言（UML）规范中顺序图的语义是以自然语言的形式描述的,是一种半形式化的语言,不能对系统的交互行为进行形式化分析及论证.针对UML顺序图缺乏精确的形式化描述问题,根据顺序图的时序特征,提出了增加交互操作符的UML顺序图的六元组形式化方法.对描述逻辑进行时序扩展,得到可表示动态和时序语义的形式化规范——时序描述逻辑.应用时序描述逻辑的时态算子得到时序描述逻辑语义形式的UML顺序图.用UML顺序图描述完整的C语言执行过程,将其形式化描述,实验结果表明,这种方法是可行的.     

UML在分布式系统中的应用与研究

ＵＭＬ（Ｕｎｉｆｉｅｄ　 Ｍｏｄｅｌｉｎｇ 　Ｌａｎｇｕａｇｅ）是一种标准的、功能强大的建模语言。ＩＳＯ ＲＭ－ＯＤＰ（ＩＳＯ开放分布式处理参考模型）为开放、灵活的分布式系统提供了主框架。文章提出了一种用ＵＭＬ为ＯＤＰ系统建模的方法,它以ＯＤＰ的概念和ＵＭＬ的符号为基础。     

Classification and trend analysis of UML books (1997–2009)

Technical books of each subject area denote the level of maturity and knowledge demand in that area. According to the Google Books database, about 208 Unified Modeling Language (UML) books have been published from its inception in 1997 until 2009. While various book reviews are frequently published in various sources (e.g., IEEE Software Bookshelf), there are no studies to classify UML books into meaningful categories. Such a classification can help researchers in the area to identify trends and also reveal the level of activity in each sub-area of UML. The statistical survey reported in this article intends to be a first step in classification and trend analysis of the UML books published from 1997 to 2009. The study also sheds light on the quantity of books published in different focus areas (e.g., UML’s core concepts, patterns, tool support, Object Constraint Language and Model-Driven Architecture) and also on different application domains (e.g., database modeling, web applications, and real-time systems). The trends of book publications in each sub-area of UML are also used to track the level of maturity, to identify possible Hype cycles and also to measure knowledge demand in each area.     

Synthesizing Distributed Protocol Specifications from a UML State Machine Modeled Service Specification

The object-oriented paradigm is widely applied in designing and implementing communication systems.Unified Modeling Language(UML) is a standard language used to model the design of object-oriented systems.A protocol state machine is a UML adopted diagram that is widely used in designing communication protocols.It has two key attractive advantages over traditional finite state machines:modeling concurrency and modeling nested hierarchical states.In a distributed communication system,each entity of the system has its own protocol that defines when and how the entity exchanges messages with other communicating entities in the system.The order of the exchanged messages must conform to the overall service specifications of the system.In object-oriented systems,both the service and the protocol specifications are modeled in UML protocol state machines.Protocol specification synthesis methods have to be applied to automatically derive the protocol specification from the service specification.Otherwise,a time-consuming process of design,analysis,and error detection and correction has to be applied iteratively until the design of the protocol becomes error-free and consistent with the service specification.Several synthesis methods are proposed in the literature for models other than UML protocol state machines,and therefore,because of the unique features of the protocol state machines,these methods are inapplicable to services modeled in UML protocol state machines.In this paper,we propose a synthesis method that automatically synthesizes the protocol specification of distributed protocol entities from the service specification,given that both types of specifications are modeled in UML protocol state machines.Our method is based on the latest UML version(UML2.3),and it is proven to synthesize protocol specifications that are syntactically and semantically correct.As an example application,the synthesis method is used to derive the protocol specification of the H.323 standard used in Internet calls.     

UML建模方法在地理信息系统开发中的应用

统一建模语言(UML)是一种用于可视化、说明、构建并文档化软件系统的标准建模语言。结合一个地理信息应用系统,介绍TUML建模方法在GIS开发中的应用。     

UML在财务管理信息系统分析设计中的应用

统一建模语言UML（Unified Modeling Language）是一种标准的、功能强大的建模语言。文章在介绍UML的基础上,以财务管理系统的分析和设计为例,详细介绍了UML（统一建模语言）的实际建模过程。