ODP enterprise viewpoint specification

The Open Distributed Processing (ODP) standardisation initiative has led to a framework by which distributed systems can be modelled using a number of viewpoints. These include an enterprise viewpoint, which focuses on the objectives and policies of the enterprise that the system is meant to support. Although the ODP reference model provides abstract languages of relevant concepts, it does not prescribe particular techniques that are to be used in the individual viewpoints. In particular, there is a need to develop appropriate notations for ODP enterprise specification, in order to increase the applicability of the ODP framework. In this paper, we tackle this concern and develop a specification language to support the current draft of the enterprise viewpoint. In doing so, we analyse the current definition of the ODP enterprise viewpoint language. Using the Unified Modelling Language (uml), a meta-model of the core concepts and their relationships is constructed, and we also investigate to what extent the uml can be used for enterprise viewpoint specification. We, then, focus on the expression of enterprise policies that govern the behaviour of enterprise objects. We develop a policy language, which is a combination of structured English and simple predicate logic and is built on top of the formal object-oriented specification language Object-Z, into which the complete language is translated. We illustrate the ideas in the paper with a case study that presents an enterprise specification of a library support system.     

Writing and executing ODP computational viewpoint specifications using Maude

The Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) is a joint standardization effort by ITU-T and ISO/IEC for the specification of large open distributed systems. RM-ODP is becoming increasingly relevant now because the size and complexity of large distributed systems is challenging current software engineering methods and tools, and because international standards have become key to achieve the required interoperability between the different parties and organizations involved in the design and development of complex systems. RM-ODP defines five viewpoints for decomposing the design activity into separate areas of concern. One of the RM-ODP viewpoints, the computational viewpoint, focuses on the basic functionality of the system and its environment, independently of its distribution. Although several notations have been proposed to model the ODP computational viewpoint, either they are not expressive enough to faithfully represent all its concepts, or they tend to suffer from a lack of formal support. In this paper we introduce the use of Maude as a formal notation for writing and executing ODP computational viewpoint specifications. Maude is an executable rewriting logic language specially well suited for the specification of object-oriented open and distributed systems. We show how Maude offers a simple, natural, and accurate way of modeling the ODP computational viewpoint concepts, allows the execution of the specifications produced, and offers good tool support for reasoning about them.     

Formal models for the description of timed behaviors of multimedia and hypermedia distributed systems

This paper presents two modeling approaches that can be used as a formal basis for designing distributed multimedia and hypermedia systems. Using these approaches, users and designers are able to express formally their multimedia and hypermedia synchronization and time requirements. The two different models considered are Hierarchical Time Stream Petri Nets and RT-LOTOS. It will be shown that both models, starting from a different formal basis, are of interest as they possess complementary advantages and can then be used at different stages of the system life cycle. For instance, HTSPN provides an user-friendly graphical specification framework, whereas RT-LOTOS offers an extensive simulation and validation framework applicable to specifications derived from HTSPN.     

On the use of a formal requirements engineering language: The Generalized Railroad Crossing Problem

In this paper, we report on the use of theAlbert II requirements specification language through the handling of the Generalized Railroad Crossing case study. This formal language is based on an ontology of concepts used for capturing requirements inherent in real-time, distributed systems. Because of itsnaturalness, the language supports a direct mapping of customers’ informal needs onto formal statements, without having to introduce artificial elements. The language is founded on a formal framework (real-time temporal logic) which supports the reasoning process of the analyst during the elaboration of the specification. Such support for the reasoning is illustrated in the context of a goal-oriented approach adopted for the elaboration of the case study.     

Using Maude to write and execute ODP information viewpoint specifications

The aim of the open distributed processing (ODP) information viewpoint is to describe the semantics of the information and of the information processing in a system, from a global point of view, without having to worry about other considerations, such as how the information will be finally distributed or implemented or the technology used to achieve such implementation. Although several notations have been proposed to model this ODP viewpoint, they are not expressive enough to faithfully represent all the information concepts, or they tend to suffer from a lack of (formal) support, or both. In this paper, we explore the use of Maude as a formal notation for writing ODP information specifications. Maude is an executable rewriting logic language especially well suited for the specification of object-oriented open and distributed systems. We show how Maude offers a simple, natural, and accurate way of modeling the ODP information viewpoint concepts, allows the execution of the specifications produced, and offers good tool support for reasoning about them.     

基于对象分布式实时系统约束的一致性研究

在分布式实时系统中,时间约束规格的一致性是解决任务分配和调度等关键问题的必要前提。该文给出了一种基于对象分布式实时系统调度的通用模型,并对该模型进行了形式化描述。该模型克服了以往模型不能在应用系统的逻辑和功能部件上描述系统实时约束的不足,允许从方法和活动上描述所需的约束,降低了单一约束描述的繁杂程度。为了解决使用该模型进行约束规格的一致性问题,该文给出了绝对时间约束、相对时间约束、一致性约束以及相对时间约束和一致性约束之间的一致性判定的必要条件。     

The design and analysis of real-time systems using the ASTRAL software development environment

ASTRAL is a formal specification language for real-time systems. It is intended to support formal software development and, therefore, has been formally defined. The structuring mechanisms in ASTRAL allow one to build modularized specifications of complex systems with layering. A real-time system is modeled by a collection of state machine specifications and a single global specification. This paper discusses the ASTRAL Software Development Environment (SDE), which is an integrated set of design and analysis tools based on the ASTRAL formal framework. The tools that make up the support environment are a syntax-directed editor, a specification processor, a verification condition generator, a browser kit, a model checker, and a mechanical theorem prover. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A framework for the specification of test cases for real-time distributed systems

The OSI conformance testing methodology and framework (CTMF) is a well established standard which defines and regulates the conformance testing procedure for protocol implementations. Conformance testing is meant to be functional black-box testing. Besides concepts and terminology, the CTMF standardizes testing architectures and the Tree and Tabular Combined Notation (TTCN) test specification language. As more and more distributed systems such as multimedia, safety-critical and real-time systems rely on the timely availability of information, testing of real-time requirements becomes a serious issue, too. Unfortunately, testing real-time and other non-functional requirements (performance and reliability) are outside the scope of CTMF. In this paper we present an extension of CTMF which allows us to specify test cases for testing real-time requirements. The extension includes a generic testing architecture and a notation for test specification, which is called real-time TTCN.     

A verification framework for spatio-temporal consistency language with CCSL as a specification language

The Spatio-Temporal Consistency Language(STeC)is a high-level modeling language that deals natively with spatio-temporal behaviour,i.e.,behaviour relating to certain locations and time.Such restriction by both locations and time is of first importance for some types of real-time systems.CCSL is a formal specification language based on logical clocks.It is used to describe some crucial safety properties for real-time systems,due to its powerful expressiveness of logical and chronometric time constraints.We consider a novel verification framework combining STeC and CCSL,with the advantages of addressing spatio-temporal consistency of system behaviour and easily expressing some crucial time constraints.We propose a theory combining these two languages and a method verifying CCSL properties in STeC models.We adopt UPPAAL as the model checking tool and give a simple example to illustrate how to carry out verification in our framework.     

Using schedulers to test probabilistic distributed systems

Formal methods are one of the most important approaches to increasing the confidence in the correctness of software systems. A formal specification can be used as an oracle in testing since one can determine whether an observed behaviour is allowed by the specification. This is an important feature of formal testing: behaviours of the system observed in testing are compared with the specification and ideally this comparison is automated. In this paper we study a formal testing framework to deal with systems that interact with their environment at physically distributed interfaces, called ports, and where choices between different possibilities are probabilistically quantified. Building on previous work, we introduce two families of schedulers to resolve nondeterministic choices among different actions of the system. The first type of schedulers, which we call global schedulers, resolves nondeterministic choices by representing the environment as a single global scheduler. The second type, which we call localised schedulers, models the environment as a set of schedulers with there being one scheduler for each port. We formally define the application of schedulers to systems and provide and study different implementation relations in this setting.     

Formal methods integration in software engineering

This paper presents an extract from our works on a software engineering method for avionic real-time systems [3], the C-Method, which covers the whole software lifecycle thanks to a seamless process, and integrates formal methods in its process. Because distributed, real-time and embedded (DRE) systems have safety critical concerns, they require the use of formal languages (that allow non-ambiguous and rigorous specifications) in order to be able to prove their non-functional properties. Therefore, the “C-Method” relies on the use of formal languages in the earliest steps of the system specification and on the use of semi-formal languages in the analysis, design and programming steps. The fundamental question is how to integrate several languages with different levels of formalization and abstraction. The previous software engineering methods were based on a single language or notation, so they did not address this issue. In order to make the transitions more continuous between semi-formal and formal specifications, we have introduced in the development process what we call “intermediate” languages (+CAL and Why), that are easy to manipulate but directly linked to a formal language (TLA+ for +CAL, Why for PVS).     

开放环境特性感知技术

提出了一个开放环境特性描述框架.该框架支持便捷地、形式化地描述异步环境的各种特性,包括那些既有技术不能处理的时序特性.该框架还引入了谓词检测技术,支持高效的环境特性感知机制的实现.开发了一个开放环境特性感知中间件平台,并通过详细的案例分析展示了如何基于所提出的环境特性描述框架与中间件平台,高效地感知环境特性,支持可信软件系统的构建.     

面向方面的分布式实时软件性能分析

性能是横切分布式实时系统的关注点,面向方面技术可以将性能关注点模块化,为性能分析提供了优越的实现条件。该文提出一个面向方面的性能工程框架,利用面向方面扩展的多种视图并结合规格化的参数描述,针对面向方面软件进行性能建模与测量。分析了一个分布式Web应用的例子及其性能瓶颈所在,结果表明该框架是可行有效的。     

Object-Z: A specification language advocated for the description of standards

The importance of formalising the specification of standards has been recognised for a number of years. This paper advocates the use of the formal specification language Object-Z in the definition of standards. Object-Z is an extension to the Z language specifically to facilitate specification in an object-oriented style. First, the syntax and semantics of Object-Z are described informally. Then the use of Object-Z in formalising standards is demonstrated by presenting a case study based on the ODP Trader. Finally, a formal semantics is introduced that suggests an approach to the standardisation of Object-Z itself. Because standards are typically large complex systems, the extra structuring afforded by the Object-Z class construct and operation expressions enables the various hierarchical relationships and the communication between objects in a system to be succinctly specified.     

动态上下文环境下的实时分布式多媒体系统框架

伴随着多媒体采集和处理设备成本的不断降低,以及处理目标的不断复杂化,多媒体信息系统正朝着大规模数据分析和管理系统靠拢,因此如何有效支持实时分布式多媒体信息所需的实时采集、压缩、传输、处理、描述、反馈与存档,以及后期的浏览与检索,已经成为多媒体计算研究的重要问题。为了有效支持实时分布式多媒体信息的实时采集、传输、处理、描述、存档等的需要,在分析动态上下文环境下实时分布式多媒体系统对底层采集、压缩和传输以及信息的表达和存储的普遍需求的基础上,提出并实现了一个通用的实时分布式媒体信息处理框架,以便为实时分布多媒体系统提供基础服务支持。该框架包括软件平台和信息系统两部分。前者用于将逻辑功能与物理设备隔离开来,完成实时采集、压缩、传输和解压等功能;后者通过统一信息表达格式,将数据与特定的采集处理模块隔离开来,同时还提供了信息管理的功能,以便于用户后期检索。这两部分共同将多媒体系统所需要的实时采集、处理、压缩、描述、反馈与存档以及离线浏览与检索等服务融入一致、统一的框架中。基于该框架的会议系统的相关实验表明,该框架具有良好的开放性、可配置性和可扩展性。     

面向方面分布式系统形式化规格说明语言

分布式系统复杂性的不断增加以及对可配置性和可重用性要求的不断提高,需要面向方面软件工程方法的支持,而形式化方法能保证分布式系统的正确性。本文对分布式规格说明语言Ocsid进行了面向方面的扩展,讨论了面向方面的Ocsid的框架结构、语法要求、方面的联结和功能接口。定义了面向方面的Ocsid规格说明语言中叠加和组合的形式化描述,该形式化描述覆盖了各个精化阶段,使精化体系的各个独立视点被协调地组合,并能形式化地验证规格说明的时态属性和系统行为。本文的工作针对的是分布式系统的形式化规格说明,提出了面向方面Ocsid的形式基础和方面扩展,其基本思想同样适用于更一般的情况。     

Performance modelling of a network processor using POOSL

The increasing complexity of innovative real-time hardware/software systems forced industry to consider system-level design methods. Before actually implementing a system with hardware and software components, system-level design methods enable analysing the performance of different design alternatives that realise the required functionality. In order to develop performance models early in the design process, the parallel object-oriented specification language (POOSL) can be used. POOSL is an expressive modelling language for analysing complex real-time distributed hardware/software systems. Being equipped with a formal semantics, POOSL ensures unambiguous execution of models and proper application of performance analysis techniques. This paper discusses the use of POOSL for analysing the performance of a network processor. A network processor consists of components that perform their behaviour in a synchronously concurrent way, whereas POOSL is based on an asynchronous modelling paradigm. In this paper, we illustrate that constructing abstract models of synchronous systems for the purpose of performance analysis may benefit from an asynchronous modelling approach.