Evaluating dynamic correctness properties of domain reference architectures

  • Authors:

  • K. Suzanne Barber;Tom Graser;Jim Holt

  • Affiliations:

  • Laboratory for Intelligent Processes and Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX;Laboratory for Intelligent Processes and Systems, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX;Motorola, 7700 West Parmer Lane, MD:PL31, Austin, TX

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Systems and Software - Special issue: Best papers on Software Engineering from the SEKE'01 Conference
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

The goals of evaluating correctness properties of software architectures include: (1) to provide an early opportunity to correct defects in requirements embodied in the software architecture, and (2) to ensure that the software architecture is an accurate blueprint for system implementers. While evaluation of both static and dynamic correctness properties is essential to achieve these goals, this paper focuses on dynamic correctness properties, including safety, liveness, and completeness. A new software architecture evaluation tool called Arcade, developed to support the Systems Engineering Process Activities (SEPA), provides dynamic correctness property evaluations using the complementary techniques of simulation and model checking. SEPA suggests a comprehensive approach to capture and represent yet separate different types of requirements as a multi-level software architecture. One SEPA architecture level, the Domain Reference Architecture (DRA), is employed early in the analysis process to represent requirements inherent to the domain, thereby specifying a reusable blueprint in terms of what processes, data, and timing are required, rather than how a system should be implemented. Arcade provides the architect with early feedback from correctness evaluations by leveraging the formal DRA meta-model to enable model checking and generating a Execution Space visualization to aid completeness validation.