基于MFI的企业业务模型互操作能力度量方法研究

业界存在多种企业业务模型,模型的定义、描述、结构、功能及支持工具通常存在差异,这些差异导致业务模型间的部分语义互操作存在较大困难。绝大部分企业业务模型都能够通过4个维度(Role,Goal,Process,Service)来描述,因此,一个企业业务模型实际上是一个具体的RGPS模型,依此提出企业业务模型互操作能力度量方法。首先基于互操作性元模型框架MFI构建RGPS互操作性特征框架,再将特征框架定义为RGPS模型互操作性特征集;其次对业务模型特征所属类型与所具有的性质进行分析,定义数学方法,并基于互操作性特征集对模型特征进行标识与量化,得到模型实例;再次通过数据相似性算法计算模型实例间的相似性,得出RGPS模型集中任意两个模型间的互操作能力值,从而构建RGPS模型集的互操作能力度量矩阵;最后,采用该方法对不同领域间典型的企业业务模型互操作能力进行度量,分析并讨论度量结果,从而在一定程度上验证了互操作能力度量方法能促进并引导不同领域企业业务模型的有效协作。     

Interoperability evaluation models: A systematic review

Interoperability is defined as the ability for two (or more) systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged. There is increasing demand for interoperability between individual software systems. Developing an interoperability evaluation model between software and information systems is difficult, and becoming an important challenge. An interoperability evaluation model allows knowing the degree of interoperability, and lead to the improvement of interoperability. This paper describes the existing interoperability evaluation models, and performs a comparative analysis among their findings to determine the similarities and differences in their philosophy and implementation. This analysis yields a set of recommendations for any party that is open to the idea of creating or improving an interoperability evaluation model.     

Process interoperability in healthcare systems with dynamic semantic web services

Healthcare systems are very complex due to extreme heterogeneity in their data and processes. Researchers and practitioner need to make systems interoperable and integrate for the benefit of all the stakeholders including hospitals, clinicians, medical support staff, and patients. The broader goal of interoperability can only be achieved when standards are practiced.Two different healthcare systems can earn HL7 conformance and compliance but at the same time can be incompatible for interoperability because of varying implementation of HL7 interaction model. This is mainly because workflows in healthcare systems are very complex. Interoperability on one hand requires flexible mechanism for the mapping of business processes to a standard, HL7 in our example. On the other hand it requires deeper understanding of the standard interaction model and gaps created by their incompatible implementations. In this paper we propose a novel technique of dynamically creating semantic web services as overlay on top of the existing services. We used Web Service Modeling Framework as an underlying architecture for HL7 process artifacts implementation as semantic web services. These semantic services are mapped to our proposed interaction ontology. Integrated reasoning mechanism provides necessary execution semantics for more effective and seamless end-to-end communication.The prototype we tested on different processes from the laboratory domain at a local diagnostic laboratory with uninterrupted process flow. The scenario of Result Query Placer interaction flow and its associated process artifacts are executed for the proof of concept.The proposed solution complements the existing data interoperability in HL7 and leads to semantic process interoperability. The achievement of semantic interoperability results in timely delivery of healthcare services to patients saving precious lives.     

User model interoperability: a survey

Nowadays a large number of user-adaptive systems has been developed. Commonly, the effort to build user models is repeated across applications and domains, due to the lack of interoperability and synchronization among user-adaptive systems. There is a strong need for the next generation of user models to be interoperable, i.e. to be able to exchange user model portions and to use the information that has been exchanged to enrich the user experience. This paper presents an overview of the well-established literature dealing with user model interoperability, discussing the most representative work which has provided valuable solutions to face interoperability issues. Based on a detailed decomposition and a deep analysis of the selected work, we have isolated a set of dimensions characterizing the user model interoperability process along which the work has been classified. Starting from this analysis, the paper presents some open issues and possible future deployments in the area.     

ALOCOM: a generic content model for learning objects

e-Learning organizations are focusing heavily on learning content reusability. The ultimate objective is a learning object economy characterized by searchable digital libraries of reusable learning objects that can be exchanged and reused across various learning systems. To enable such approach, basic questions of learning content interoperability need to be addressed. This paper investigates the interoperation of learning content defined according to different specifications. A number of content models are reviewed that define learning objects and their components. On the basis of a comparative analysis, the content models are mapped to a generic model for learning objects to address interoperability questions and to enable share and reuse on a global scale.     

A semantic interoperability framework for software as a service systems in cloud computing environments

In cloud computing environments in software as a service (SaaS) level, interoperability refers to the ability of SaaS systems on one cloud provider to communicate with SaaS systems on another cloud provider. One of the most important barriers to the adoption of SaaS systems in cloud computing environments is interoperability. A common tactic for enabling interoperability is the use of an interoperability framework or model. During the past few years, in cloud SaaS level, various interoperability frameworks and models have been developed to provide interoperability between systems. The syntactic interoperability of SaaS systems have already been intensively researched. However, not enough consideration has been given to semantic interoperability issues. Achieving semantic interoperability is a challenge within the world of SaaS in cloud computing environments. Therefore, a semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments is needed. We develop a semantic interoperability framework for cloud SaaS systems. The capabilities and value of service oriented architecture for semantic interoperability within cloud SaaS systems have been studied and demonstrated. This paper is accomplished through a number of steps (research methodology). It begins with a study on related works in the literature. Then, problem statement and research objectives are explained. In the next step, semantic interoperability requirements for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments that are needed to support are analyzed. The details of the proposed semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments are presented. It includes the design of the proposed semantic interoperability framework. Finally, the evaluation methods of the semantic interoperability framework are elaborated. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments, extensive experimentation and statistical analysis have been performed. The experiments and statistical analysis specify that the proposed semantic interoperability framework for cloud SaaS systems is able to establish semantic interoperability between cloud SaaS systems in a more efficient way. It is concluded that using the proposed framework, there is a significant improvement in the effectiveness of semantic interoperability of SaaS systems in cloud computing environments.     

Design for service compatibility

Service composition is a recent field that has seen a flurry of different approaches proposed towards the goal of flexible distributed heterogeneous interoperation of software systems, usually based on the expectation that such systems must be derived from higher-level models rather than be coded at low level. In practice, achieving service interoperability nonetheless continues to require significant modelling approach at multiple abstraction levels, and existing formal approaches typically require the analysis of the global space of joint executions of interacting services. Based on our earlier work on providing locally checkable consistency rules for guaranteeing the behavioural consistency of inheritance hierarchies, a model-driven approach for creating consistent service orchestrations is proposed. Service execution and interaction is represented with a high-level model in terms of extended Petri net notation; formal criteria are provided for service consistency that can be checked in terms of local model properties, and give a multi-step design approach for developing services that are guaranteed to be interoperable. Finally, it is outlined how the presented results can be carried over and applied to modelling processes using the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN).     

Assessment of interoperability in cloud manufacturing

Cloud manufacturing is defined as a resource sharing paradigm that provides on-demand access to a pool of manufacturing resources and capabilities aimed at utilising geographically dispersed manufacturing resources in a service-oriented manner. These services are deployed via the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and its underlying IT infrastructure, architecture models, as well as data and information exchange protocols and standards. In this context, interoperability has been identified to be a key enabler for implementing such vertically or horizontally integrated cyber-physical systems for production engineering. Adopting an interoperability framework for cloud manufacturing systems enables an efficient deployment of manufacturing resources and capabilities across the production engineering life-cycle. In this paper, the authors investigate interoperability in the context of cloud manufacturing to identify the key parameters that determine whether or not a change-over from traditional cloud manufacturing to interoperable cloud manufacturing is financially viable for a given scenario of service providers and manufacturing orders. The results obtained confirm that interoperable cloud manufacturing systems cannot be considered a one-size-fits-all option. Rather, its applicability depends on a number of driving parameters that need to be analysed and interpreted to determine whether or not it provides a financially viable alternative to cloud manufacturing without an overarching interoperability framework.     

Toward a business model reference for interoperability services

The importance of interoperability for businesses is undoubted. After an evolution from electronic data interchange to interoperability in electronic business and enterprise interoperability both the scientific and the practitioners’ community are today discussing the notion of interoperability service utilities. Furthermore, researchers are studying decentralized and distributed interoperability approaches such as peer-to-peer networks, for example. However, a comprehensive investigation of business models for such decentralized approaches to interoperability is still missing. Drawing from recent literature on business modeling on the one hand and interoperability research on the other hand this paper designs a business model reference for interoperability services. The business model reference assumes interoperability information as an economic good and is applied in two case studies and evaluated from multiple perspectives. The paper contributes to the scientific body of knowledge as it proposes a novel design artifact which lays the foundation for a number of future research opportunities.     

高斯干扰下GNSS信号码跟踪精度分析

码跟踪精度是导航系统兼容互操作评估的重要参数。为定量分析高斯干扰下GNSS信号的码跟踪精度,从常见的高斯干扰信号出发,针对CELP,NELP及DP环路模型,基于MATLAB软件对GNSS信号的码跟踪精度进行仿真分析,并给出了NELP及DP环路的CT-SSC表达式,同时对环路模型的CT-SSC及Cramer-Rao下界进行分析。仿真结果表明:在相同条件下,GNSS信号的码跟踪误差受高斯窄带干扰及宽带干扰比较明显,而在一定信干比范围内,受高斯匹配谱干扰和带限白干扰比较稳定;在DP环路下,GNSS信号的CT-SSC三维曲面较CELP及NELP显得“平滑”,相应的跟踪性能也最好。对GNSS信号的码跟踪性能进行分析,有助于给GNSS系统的兼容与互操作评估及现代GNSS接收机的设计提供重要参考;给出的NELP及DP的码CT-SSC表达式,可作为与CELP的CT-SSC进行并行分析的参照依据。     

An overview of the model integration process: From pre-integration assessment to testing

Integration of models requires linking models which can be developed using different tools, methodologies, and assumptions. We performed a literature review with the aim of improving our understanding of model integration process, and also presenting better strategies for building integrated modeling systems. We identified five different phases to characterize integration process: pre-integration assessment, preparation of models for integration, orchestration of models during simulation, data interoperability, and testing. Commonly, there is little reuse of existing frameworks beyond the development teams and not much sharing of science components across frameworks. We believe this must change to enable researchers and assessors to form complex workflows that leverage the current environmental science available. In this paper, we characterize the model integration process and compare integration practices of different groups. We highlight key strategies, features, standards, and practices that can be employed by developers to increase reuse and interoperability of science software components and systems.     

Toward self-describing and workflow integrated Earth system models: A coupled atmosphere-ocean modeling system application

The complexity of Earth system models and their applications is increasing as a consequence of scientific advances, user demand, and the ongoing development of computing platforms, storage systems and distributed high-resolution observation networks. Multi-component Earth system models need to be redesigned to make interactions among model components and other applications external to the modeling system easier. To that end, the common component interfaces of Earth system models can be redesigned to increase interoperability between models and other applications such as various web services, data portals and science gateways. The models can be made self-describing so that the many configuration, build options and inputs of a simulation can be recorded. In this paper, we present a coupled modeling system that includes the proposed methodology to create self-describing models with common model component interfaces. The designed coupled atmosphere-ocean modeling system is also integrated into a scientific workflow system to simplify routine modeling tasks and relationships between these tasks and to demonstrate the enhanced interoperability between different technologies and components. Later on, the work environment is tested using a realistic Earth system modeling application. As can be seen through this example, a layered design for collecting provenance and metadata has the added benefit of documenting a run in far greater detail than before. In this way, it facilitates exploration and understanding of simulations and leads to possible reproducibility. In addition to designing self-describing Earth system models, the regular modeling tasks are also simplified and automated by using a scientific workflow which provides meaningful abstractions for the model, computing environment and provenance/metadata collection mechanisms. Our aim here is to solve a specific instance of a complex model integration problem by using a framework and scientific workflow approach together. The reader may also note that the methods presented in this paper might be also generalized to other types of Earth system models, leading to improved ease of use and flexibility. The initial results also show that the coupled atmosphere-ocean model, which is controlled by the designed workflow environment, is able to reproduce the Mediterranean Sea surface temperature when it is compared with the used CCSM3 initial and boundary conditions.     

An evaluation and selection framework for interoperability standards

There is a wide range of standards available for the integration and interoperability of applications and information systems, both on domain-specific and domain-neutral levels. The evaluation and selection of interoperability standards are necessary in the application development and integration projects, when there is a need to assess the usefulness of existing models or to find open solutions. In addition, standards have to be evaluated when recommendations are made for a given domain or when their quality is examined. The evaluation of the scope and other aspects of interoperability standards is usually performed against project-specific requirements, but generic frameworks can be used for supporting the evaluation. In this article, we present a conceptual framework which has been developed for the systematic evaluation of interoperability standards. We also present an overview of a process for the evaluation of interoperability standards. We illustrate the use of these models with practical experience and examples.     

Experiments on semantic interoperability of agent reputation models using the SOARI architecture

In the last decades, we have experienced a rapid increase in the number of available online e-services. Agent-based computing has been advocated as a natural computational model to automate the interaction with those services, thus enabling the formation of multiagent systems. In these latter, agents may use trust and reputation as the main control mechanism and they usually exchange such information in order to accelerate reputation evaluation. However, due to the semantic heterogeneity of the different reputation models, agents interaction about reputation has to deal with interoperability issues. Therefore, this paper presents some experiments using SOARI, an architecture that enables the semantic interoperability among agents that have heterogeneous reputation models. Such experiments were conducted using two reputation testbeds and three agent reputation models in order to analyze the accuracy of the agents reputation evaluation in the presence of a more expressive communication apparatus, as well as the effect of the heterogeneity among reputation models on this accuracy.     

Trust assessment of security for e-health systems

The expansive connectivity of emerging information systems has set the stage for pervasive access to healthcare services via e-health systems for selecting the best possible healthcare services. Emerging systems are expected to be highly dynamic open environments connecting diverse number of healthcare services and autonomous entities that are autonomous agents or software applications representing patients. Entities in such dynamic environments may have different security needs from e-health systems raising the challenge of trust computations regarding security. In this research, we proposed a trust assessment model of an e-health service from the viewpoint of an entity. The model contains a comprehensive architecture applicable to different types of entities, and a novel set of trust assessment metrics may be used to assess a specific property of a security system (i.e. partial metrics) or all properties (i.e. total metrics). The simulation based evaluation of proposed model in the context of a Hospital Online Appointment Service has shown that the proposed model provides better trust computation results than existing trust models for e-health systems. Furthermore, the entities are also able to assess the trust even with incomplete security information.     

Applying intelligent agents and semantic web services in eGovernment environments

The increasing volume of eGovernment‐related services is demanding new approaches for service integration and interoperability in this domain. Semantic web (SW) technologies and applications can leverage the potential of eGovernment service integration and discovery, thus tackling the problems of semantic heterogeneity characterizing eGovernment information sources and the different levels of interoperability. eGovernment services will therefore be semantically described in the foreseeable future. In an environment with semantically annotated services, software agents are essential as the entities responsible for exploiting the semantic content in order to automate some tasks, and so enhance the user's experience. In this paper, we present a framework that provides a seamless integration of semantic web services and intelligent agents technologies by making use of ontologies to facilitate their interoperation. The proposed framework can assist in the development of powerful and flexible distributed systems in complex, dynamic, heterogeneous, unpredictable and open environments. Our approach is backed up by a proof‐of‐concept implementation, where the breakthrough of integrating disparate eGovernment services has been tested.     

Optimized task allocation on private cloud for hybrid simulation of large-scale critical systems

Simulation represents a powerful technique for the analysis of dependability and performance aspects of distributed systems. For large-scale critical systems, simulation demands complex experimentation environments and the integration of different tools, in turn requiring sophisticated modeling skills. Moreover, the criticality of the involved systems implies the set-up of expensive testbeds on private infrastructures. This paper presents a middleware for performing hybrid simulation of large-scale critical systems. The services offered by the middleware allow the integration and interoperability of simulated and emulated subsystems, compliant with the reference interoperability standards, which can provide greater realism of the scenario under test. The hybrid simulation of complex critical systems is a research challenge due to the interoperability issues of emulated and simulated subsystems and to the cost associated with the scenarios to set up, which involve a large number of entities and expensive long running simulations. Therefore, a multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to optimize the simulation task allocation on a private cloud.     

Model-based data engineering for Web services

Although XML offers heterogeneous IT systems a new level of interoperability, it doesn't ensure that the various systems correctly interpret the data they receive. To address this, data engineering supports clear definitions for exchanged data elements. With model-based data engineering, organizations use a common reference model, which offers further clarity and performance improvements. Organizations can use the resulting data to configure mediation services, translating dialects of new or legacy services into a common language for use in a service-oriented architecture.     

基于BTP的Web服务事务协调研究与实现

Web服务技术为异构应用之间的集成和互操作提供了有效的解决手段。目前的Web服务还缺乏全局的事务环境,传统的事务模型不再适用于新的Web环境下的要求。针对Web服务中事务处理的协调问题,分析现有的事务处理模型和协议,设计实现了一个基于BTP协议的Web服务事务原型系统,把用于Web服务事务处理的BTP协议和用于传统事务的两阶段提交协议相结合来协调Web服务中的事务。通过运行应用实例,验证了原型系统的可行性,该系统具备协调短期事务与长事务的能力。