26211788
Mockup-driven fast-prototyping methodology for Web requirements engineering
Web application development differs from the development of traditional software in several significant ways; therefore requirements engineering for Web applications entails new demands accordingly. This paper proposes an extreme Web requirements engineering - mockup-driven fast-prototyping methodology to help elicit and finalize system requirements, as well as facilitate adjustment to quickly changing user requirements typical to Web applications. Supporting the inclusion of customer feedback early in the development process, this strategy minimizes the risk of wasting valuable development efforts because of ambiguous or incomplete specifications. Real-life experiences of the use of the methodology in industry are reported as examples.
1871945
Specifications in software prototyping
Abstract We explore the use of software specifications for software prototyping. This paper describes a process model for software prototyping, and shows how specifications can be used to support such a process via a cellular mobile phone switch example.
10317156
A research on Collaboration Net
We present research on computer-supported cooperative work by introducing an approach to the multimedia based net-centric conference environment-Collaboration Net. Some basic definitions of the distributed Web-based meeting are provided, and the properties of this kind of collaboration are given. We explain problems associated with the well-known yet old-fashioned parliamentary procedure, Robert's Rules of Order, which must be formally modeled and adapted to the modern net-centric virtual conference where time synchronism is hard to enforce. A prototype of our Web-browser based approach to developing the Collaboration Net is also briefly presented. Finally, research challenges in this area are highlighted.
8941164
Supporting agent-based distributed software development through modeling and simulation
In today's software engineering environment, it is becoming increasingly commonplace for team members and stakeholders to be distributed in multiple locations and time zones. Under these circumstances, the coordination of software development activities becomes increasingly more complex. One solution uses mobile agent-based tools to support collaborative software engineering tasks, such as requirements management. Despite the fact that development and validation of such tools would be facilitated by the use of modeling and simulation, very little work relating formal methods to agent-based system development has been performed. This paper therefore presents a hierarchical colored Petri Net (CPN) model as a formal framework for agent-based distributed software development, and demonstrates its usefulness by applying the framework to the development of a requirements management system.
18643244
An Empirical Performance Study on PSIM
It is well known that errors caught in the early stages of system development life cycle greatly helped reduce the expense for later error fixing and mitigate risks and complications. Performance analysis is one of the methods to ensure satisfactory system performance that can avoid redesign and patch in the later stage of system development when performance problems emerge. Much work has been done to address such concerns collectively known as the 'performance engineering' problem. However, a comprehensive method is still needed to provide an end-to-end support for performance evaluation on software architecture design. Automated tools to support the method must be developed, and its validation must be carefully planned and conducted. In response to this need, we propose our approach, PSIM (performance simulation and modeling). PSIM is a performance simulation and modeling tool that integrated performance properties into software architecture specifications expressed in several major UML diagrams. PSIM models can be transformed into Colored GSPN (colored generalized stochastic Petri nets) via an automated tool. As a result, the Colored GSPN models can be simulated to perform model-based performance evaluation. In this paper PSIM is first briefly reviewed and illustrated through modeling a web-based electronic conferencing system, called M-Net, to derive performance metrics. We then conduct runtime performance testing to the implementation of M-Net and compare the simulation results against the runtime testing data. PSIM is shown to be effective in predicting system performance and in identifying system performance bottlenecks through this experimentation.
15614662
Towards increasing web application productivity
In this paper we present and discuss a template/meta-data based partial code generation system supporting web application development. Seamlessly incorporating the recent top-notch technologies, the framework maximally exploits the capabilities of the underlying implementation technologies. Our approach primarily benefits the framework and code developers. In addition, the complete separation of data model, navigation model, and presentation model reflects on a more general conceptual process that would decouple the technique and methodology from its underlying technology choices. The decoupling between the generated code and the code that is necessarily added later on through other development pathways than the generator deals with the incremental changes and adaptations of the models in the face of an operational system, therefore further enhances the extensibility, maintainability, and reusability of the generated applications.
14948724
Joint software research between industry and academia
A model for industry-sponsored academic software research tha helps the sponsor gain tangible results quickly but respects the university's research mission is presented. Central to the model is joint effort to achieve a win-win situation for all participants. The key is the relationship between the university's principal investigator and the company's visiting scholar. The principal investigator initiates research contracts and is responsible for research results but, because he or she is an academic, may not have an industrial perspective. The company dispatches a technical representative, called the visiting scholar, to participate directly in the daily research. A research structure, relations with the sponsoring company, issues regarding environmental compatibility and funding amount and duration, and a reporting structure are all spelled out in the model. Legal recommendations are made with respect to confidentiality, copyrights and patents, export controls, and other issues. Other considerations that arise when writing a research contract are discussed.<<ETX>>
5203884
Reconfigurable Web Wrapper Agents for Web Information Integration
This paper provides a solution for rapidly building software agents that can serve as Web wrappers for biological information integration. We define an XML-based language called WNDL, which provides a representation of a Web browsing session. A WNDL script describes how to locate the data, extract the data and combine the data. By executing different WNDL scripts, user can automate virtually all types of Web browsing sessions. We also describe IEPAD, a data extractor based on pattern discovery techniques. IEPAD allows our software agents to automatically discover the extraction rules to extract the contents of a structurally formatted Web page without the need to label a Web page to train a wrapper. With a programmingby-example authoring tool, a user can generate a complete Web wrapper agent by browsing the target Web sites. We have built a variety of applications to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
14942562
Improving hallway navigation in mobile robots with sensor habituation
Habituation is a form of non-associative learning observed in a variety of species of animals. Arguably, it is the simplest form of learning. Nonetheless, the ability to habituate to certain stimuli implies plastic neural systems and adaptive behaviors. This article describes how computational models of habituation can be applied to real robots. In particular, we discuss the problem of the oscillatory movements observed when a Khepera robot navigates through narrow hallways. Results show that habituation to the proximity of the walls can lead to smoother navigation. Habituation to sensory stimulation to the sides of the robot does not interfere with the robot's ability to turn at dead ends and to avoid obstacles outside the hallway. This work shows that simple biological mechanisms of learning can be adapted to achieve better performance in real mobile robots.
9268321
Online medical teaching case database
Case-based teaching allows for the study of medicine through records of patient encounters. These cases, used for teaching purposes, are variably collected by clinicians as hard copies of patient files and radiology films. Currently, a single repository of thorough, multi-disciplinary, medical teaching cases that can be uniformly accessed, shared, and searched comprehensively by all medical professionals does not exist. An Internet accessible database (iCORD) that focuses on graphical, audio-visual information along with text has been created. Users may create their own teaching case records to organize their files and share them with others. Case submissions are executed through a non-platform-specific application securely connected to the iCORD database. This submission tool and connector module, was developed using Java and XML-related technologies. The data storage medium, which is an extensible SQL database primarily used for storing patient case information, is exposed using IIS 5.0 and XML-based transformation tools to allow dynamic content delivery to PC's and handheld devices. Usage statistics, distributable teaching files, and user-centric information, which are compiled in the iCORD database, allow development of useful case search algorithms. The prototype database of 400 otolaryngology clinical cases is fully searchable using Boolean logic by parameters including age, gender, diagnosis, medical history, clinical keywords, pathology keywords, and more. The database can be used as a teaching tool during conferences and as a case authoring tool for physicians.
553852
Creating a distributed environment using object oriented technology
The paper gives a detailed description of the development of a distributed environment. A brief description of an object oriented technology used in the development of the environment is also presented. The environment described is suitable for rapid prototyping of distributed applications and complete development of distributed software systems. This environment was used in the development of client/server applications and the simulation of a cellular system. The cellular system featured Call-Handoff Cell-spitting and the dynamic allocation of cellular phones in the system.