Analysis of a software product line architecture: an experience report

  • Authors:

  • Robyn R. Lutz;Gerald C. Gannod

  • Affiliations:

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and Department of Computer Science, 226 Atanasoff Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA;Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, Box 875406, Tempe, AZ

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Systems and Software - Special issue on: Software architecture - Engineering quality attributes
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

This paper describes experiences with the architectural specification and tool-assisted architectural analysis of a mission-critical, high-performance software product line. The approach used defines a "good" product line architecture in terms of those quality attributes required by the particular product line under development. Architectures are analyzed against several criteria by both manual and tool-supported methods. The approach described in this paper provides a structured analysis of an existing product line architecture using (1) architecture recovery and specification, (2) architecture evaluation, and (3) model checking of behavior to determine the level of robustness and fault tolerance at the architectural level that are required for all systems in the product line. Results of an application to a software product line of spaceborne telescopes are used to explain the approach and describe lessons learned.