面向Agent软件工程:现状、挑战与展望

面向Agent软件工程是近年出现的一种新颖软件开发范型,它借助于Agent技术来支持软件系统的工程化开发,被视为是支持复杂软件系统开发的一种重要方法和手段,受到了学术界和工业界的高度关注和重视。尽管在过去十年多的时间里面向Agent软件工程的研究取得了诸多进展,但其技术潜力尚有待进一步发挥,走向大规模工业化应用仍面临诸多问题和挑战。在分析面向Agent软件工程产生背景和技术特点的基础上,从方法、过程和工具三个不同的角度,综述了面向Agent软件工程的研究现状,识别和分析了它当前所面临的一组关键挑战,展望和讨论了其未来的研究方向。     

Robust design of multi-agent system interactions: A testing approach based on pattern matching

The definition of protocols between agents is not enough for guaranteeing the absence of undesirable communication in organizations and the presence of desirable ones in large multi-agent systems (MASs). This is a consequence of the complex system nature of MASs, which cause sophisticated behaviors to arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions among the independent agents composing them. With this motivation, this paper presents an approach for testing communication in MAS architectures. In this approach, designers are not only recommended to specify the desired communication protocols, but also the undesired patterns and organization structures in the agents’ communications, allowing designers to define robust communication structures. For this purpose, this work presents (1) a language to define such patterns; (2) a set of already defined desired and undesired patterns which usually appear in general MASs; (3) a tool that allows developers to automatically detect these patterns in logs of MAS executions; and (4) a guideline that takes developers through the testing of the communications in MASs. The current approach is experienced with a case study, and the results show that the application of the current approach and the suppression of detected undesired patterns improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the corresponding MAS.     

面向Agent软件工程综述

面向Agent 软件工程是近年来软件工程领域出现的一个重要的前沿研究方向,受到了学术界和工业界的高度关注和重视,研究活跃,发展迅速.本文从应用需求和技术发展两个方面阐述了面向Agent软件工程的产生和发展背景;从技术、开发和工具3个视点综述了现阶段面向Agent软件工程的研究内容;分析了面向Agent 软件工程的研究现状;最后讨论了它的应用前景和面临的挑战以指导进一步研究.     

Model-driven engineering techniques for the development of multi-agent systems

Model-driven engineering (MDE), implicitly based upon meta-model principles, is gaining more and more attention in software systems due to its inherent benefits. Its use normally improves the quality of the developed systems in terms of productivity, portability, inter-operability and maintenance. Therefore, its exploitation for the development of multi-agent systems (MAS) emerges in a natural way. In this paper, agent-oriented software development (AOSD) and MDE paradigms are fully integrated for the development of MAS. Meta-modeling techniques are explicitly used to speed up several phases of the process. The Prometheus methodology is used for the purpose of validating the proposal. The meta-object facility (MOF) architecture is used as a guideline for developing a MAS editor according to the language provided by Prometheus methodology. Firstly, an Ecore meta-model for Prometheus language is developed. Ecore is a powerful tool for designing model-driven architectures (MDA). Next, facilities provided by the Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF) are used to generate the graphical editor. It offers support to develop agent models conform to the meta-model specified. Afterwards, it is also described how an agent code generator can be developed. In this way, code is automatically generated using as input the model specified with the graphical editor. A case of study validates the method put in practice for the development of a multi-agent surveillance system.     

Unified problem modeling language for knowledge engineering of complex systems-part II

Real time applications to control industrial, medical, scientific, consumer, environmental and other processes is rapidly growing. Today such systems can be found in nuclear power stations, computer-controlled chemical plants, flight control, etc. This growth, however, has also brought to the forefront some of problems with the existing technologies. In domains like real-time alarm processing in a power system control centre existing technologies like expert systems cannot efficiently cope with. These problems have pushed for research into new techniques which could be used for solving these problems. The problems range from among other aspects, the enormous size of the power system and the fast response time constraints in emergency situations. In this paper we describe the application of the Intelligent Multi-Agent Hybrid Distributed Architecture for real-time alarm processing in a power system control centre. We show how the IMAHDA architecture is able to model the complexity and size of the power system as well as meet the desired response time constraints. Implementation of a large scale real time system like alarm processing involves realization of various objectives. These include methodology related objectives, domain related objectives, and management related objectives. This paper also describes the realization of these objectives.     

计算机软件开发信息管理系统的设计与应用分析

作为20世纪最伟大的技术创造之一,计算机技术在当前对促进经济的发展和转型升级起到了非常重要的作用。随着信息技术的高速发展,互联网已经在各行各业被充分普及和应用。在这样的时代背景下,计算机需要处理非常庞大的信息数据量。而如果仍采取传统的信息管理系统,很难适应当前的实际需求。因此,需要做好对计算机信息管理系统的开发与设计,并根据实际需求开发相应的管理系统功能,从而有效地提高计算机处理信息数据的效率,推动计算机信息技术的高速发展。     

A model-driven and task-oriented method for the development of collaborative systems

Groupware systems are usually difficult to design when following traditional methodologies and approaches for single user systems. In this regard, model-driven approaches have been gaining attention in recent years. In accordance with this paradigm, we developed the SpacEclipse method in a previous work, which is a method for developing collaborative modeling groupware based on the plug-ins in the Eclipse Modeling Project. However, this method presents some deficiencies that we have tried to overcome in this work. In order to achieve this goal, we have chosen the CIAM methodology, which allows the modeling of collaboration, users, tasks, sessions and interactive issues and which is also supported by Eclipse-based tools. In this paper, we explain how the integration of CIAM elements in the SpacEclipse method has been carried out and resulted in a new method with its own methodological, conceptual and technological frameworks. To prove the validity of the method, we have applied it to a re-engineering process in the development of an existing tool.     

Models,metrics, and management of IS development

Two types of models can assist the information system manager in gaining greater insight into the system development process. They are: isomorphic models that represent cause-effect relationships between certain conditions (e.g., structured techniques) and certain observable states (e.g., productivity change); and paramorphic models that describe an outcome but do not describe the processes or variables that influence the outcome (e.g., estimation of project time or cost). The two models are shown to be interrelated since the relationships of the first model are determinants of the parameters of the second model.IS managers can make significant contributions by developing isomorphic models tailored to their own organizations. However, metrics that measure relevant characteristics of programs and systems are required before substantial progress can be made. Although some initial attempts have been made to develop metris for program quality, program complexity, and programmer skill, much more work remains to be done. In addition, other metries must be developed that will require the involvement of personnel, not only in the computer sciences, but also in information systems, the behavioral sciences, and IS management.     

Building and implementing policies in autonomous and autonomic systems using MaCMAS

Autonomic Computing, self-management based on high level guidance from humans, is increasingly being accepted as a means forward in designing reliable systems that both hide complexity from the user and control IT management costs. Effectively, AC may be viewed as policy-based self-management. We look at ways of achieving this, with particular focus on agent-oriented software engineering. We propose utilizing MaCMAS, an AOSE methodology for specifying autonomic and autonomous properties of the system independently. Later, by means of composition of these specifications, guided by a policy specification, we construct a specification for the policy and its subsequent deployment. We illustrate this by means of a case study based on a NASA concept mission and describe future work on a support toolkit. This work has been partially supported by the European Commission (FEDER) and Spanish Government under CICYT project Web-Factories (TIN2006-00472) and grant TIC2003-02737-C02-01, by NASA Software Engineering Laboratory and NASA office of Safety and Mission Assurance Software Assurance Research Program (SARP), and at University of Ulster by the Computer Science Research Institute (CSRI) and the Centre for Software Process Technologies (CSPT), funded by Invest NI through the Centres of Excellence Programme, under the EU Peace II initiative.     

一种面向agent的分析与设计方法

面向Agent软件工程是agnet技术广泛应用的基础,面向agent分析与设计是其重要组成部分，本文以社会学观点，采用群体，角色等概念，提出了一种面向agent的分析与设计方法，用于复杂分布式系统的分析与设计，给出了该方法的基本概念，抽象模型和具体步骤，并作了示例分析，最后与相关工作作了比较。     

Experiences from introducing UML-based development in a large safety-critical project

UML and UML-based development methods have become de facto standards in industry, and there are many claims for the positive effects of modelling object-oriented systems using methods based on UML. However, there is no reported empirical evaluation of UML-based development in large, industrial projects. This paper reports a case study in ABB, a global company with 120,000 employees, conducted to identify immediate benefits as well as difficulties and their causes when introducing UML-based development in large projects. ABB decided to use UML-based development in the company’s system development projects as part of an effort to enable certification according to the IEC 61508 safety standard. A UML-based development method was first applied in a large, international project with 230 system developers, testers and managers. The goal of the project was to build a new version of a safety-critical process control system. Most of the software was embedded. The project members were mostly newcomers to the use of UML. Interviews with 16 system developers and project managers at their sites in Sweden and Norway were conducted to identify the extent to which the introduction of UML-based development had improved their development process. The interviewees had experienced improvements with traceability from requirements to code, design of the code, and development of test cases as well as in communication and documentation. These results thus support claims in the literature regarding improvements that may be obtained through the use of UML. However, the results also show that the positive effects of UML-based development were reduced due to (1) legacy code that it was not feasible to reverse engineer into UML, (2) the distribution of requirements to development teams based on physical units and not on functionality, (3) training that was not particularly adapted to this project and considered too expensive to give to project members not directly involved in development with UML, and (4) a choice of modelling tools with functionality that was not in accordance with the needs of the project. The results from this study should be useful in enabling other UML adopters to have more realistic expectations and a better basis for making project management decisions.

反应堆仪控系统工程管理数据库的设计与开发

为更加科学管理10 MW固态燃料钍基熔盐堆核能系统仪控系统的相关数据及文件,提出反应堆仪控系统工程管理数据库的设计方案。根据反应堆数字化仪控系统的软硬件信息紧密相关的特点,对工程数据进行分析与分类,设计仪控系统工程管理数据库的数据结构,使用MySql软件进行数据管理。在此基础上,应用B/S结构软件开发技术实现数据管理平台的功能开发。实践验证了该数据库系统提高了工程管理效率,为今后反应堆的数据管理和科学使用奠定了基础。     

An extended attribute based access control model with trust and privacy: Application to a collaborative crisis management system

Many efforts in the area of computer security have been drawn to attribute-based access control (ABAC). Compared to other adopted models, ABAC provides more granularity, scalability, and flexibility. This makes it a valuable access control system candidate for securing platforms and environments used for coordination and cooperation among organizations and communities, especially over open networks such as the Internet. On the other hand, the basic ABAC model lacks provisions for context, trust and privacy issues, all of which are becoming increasingly critical, particularly in high performance distributed collaboration environments. This paper presents an extended access control model based on attributes associated with objects and subjects. It incorporates trust and privacy issues in order to make access control decisions sensitive to the cross-organizational collaboration context. Several aspects of the proposed model are implemented and illustrated by a case study that shows realistic ABAC policies in the domain of distributed multiple organizations crisis management systems. Furthermore, the paper shows a collaborative graphical tool that enables the actors in the emergency management system to make better decisions. The prototype shows how it guarantees the privacy of object’s attributes, taking into account the trust of the subjects. This tool incorporates a decision engine that relies on attribute based policies and dynamic trust and privacy evaluation. The resulting platform demonstrates the integration of the ABAC model, the evolving context, and the attributes of actors and resources.     

支持多工具协同的流程管理系统的设计与实现

软件开发流程中越来越依赖各种计算机辅助软件（CAS）。在使用多种工具的情况下,会遇到开发流程不可定制、流程数据不一致和流程管理效率低等问题。针对这些问题提出了一个支持多工具协同工作的软件开发过程管理系统。通过分析软件开发过程,研究支持快速迭代、偏向流程管理的软件工程开发模式,结合工作流思想设计分层架构的软件开发过程管理系统。该系统经过严格的测试用例检测,在设计的576个测试用例下通过率达到85%,能够完成工具协同的大部分需求,包括流程可定义、保持数据一致和开发流程管理。该系统在7个软件开发组,共约200人的规模下推广试用。根据管理组、开发组和测试组的反馈结果,该系统比传统方式节省了每周例会的时间,方便了开发任务的管理,从而提高了开发效率。     

Multi-model driven collaborative development platform for service-oriented e-Business systems

Enterprises need to be responsive to meet dynamic businesses and requirements. Service-oriented architecture and Web services can improve e-Business systems to be integrated and flexible. This paper proposes a multi-model driven collaborative development platform for service-oriented e-Business systems. The platform provides engineers/consultants with three views, i.e., business view, process view, and service view to support service-oriented software engineering, top-down business design and bottom-up service composite and development. The views are kept consistent through model-driven translation mechanisms. The platform employs three models, i.e., service meta-model, process model and business model to implement the translation. On the platform, business and technical consultants/engineers can use the views designated for their roles to collaborate for a service-oriented e-Business system based at the distributed sites of, e.g., IT vendors and their clients. The collaboration is featured with visual development and rapid demonstration. Comparingly, most of the mainstream development environments focus on object-oriented application development other than service-oriented business process modeling. The platform has been developed and deployed in an innovation centre to be evaluated by visiting customers.     

MOBMAS: A methodology for ontology-based multi-agent systems development

Ontologies offer significant benefits to multi-agent systems: interoperability, reusability, support for multi-agent system (MAS) development activities (such as system analysis and agent knowledge modeling) and support for MAS operation (such as agent communication and reasoning). This paper presents an ontology-based methodology, MOBMAS, for the analysis and design of multi-agent systems. MOBMAS is the first methodology that explicitly identifies and implements the various ways in which ontologies can be used in the MAS development process and integrated into the MAS model definitions. In this paper, we present comprehensive documentation and validation of MOBMAS.     

石油化工企业的供应商管理信息系统的设计与开发

为应对石油化工企业在供应商管理方面普遍存在的行业跨度广、管理难度大、规则不统一等问题,需要建立一套统一的供应商管理信息系统,实现对供应商的全过程动态管理。通过采用流行的基于WEB应用软件的开发工具,使用Struts2作为前端MVC控制器,集成Spring的配置管理、事务控制以及Hibernate数据访问框架,构建了一个轻量的,具有高度安全性、可靠性和扩展性的供应商管理业务支撑平台。在16大核心功能模块和5大辅助功能的支撑下,构成了统一平台、两级管理、分类分级、绩效考评和全过程动态管理的供应商管理体系。在系统的设计与开发中实现了供应商全生命周期管理的业务架构和功能设计的创新、自开发的高效工作流引擎的创新和开源框架结构的技术创新;系统建成之后的顺利运营为管理业务的变革提供了重要支撑,在系统建设方法论、系统集成、开发方式及精细化管理方面都将为石油化工行业内其他企业开展类似工作提供经验借鉴。     

浅谈社区卫生服务管理系统的应用与发展

随着计算机和网络技术的高速发展,卫生信息系统在医疗卫生改革和发展中发挥了重要作用。本文结合塘沽社区卫生服务管理系统建设实际,对社区卫生服务管理系统的应用与发展作简单阐述。     

需求导向的航空型号研制项目管理信息系统框架研究*

为缩小需求分析与系统设计和实现之间的间隙,采用以需求为导向的系统开发方法,识别了航空型号研制项目干系人中的重要角色,通过对研制项目协同计划、控制过程的分析,提出了项目管理生命周期各阶段面向角色的系统需求矩阵,在此基础上构建了分布式航空型号研制项目管理信息系统框架,并给出系统用例。