17480296
Object-Oriented Connector-Component Architectures
This paper presents an important extension of our contribution to FESCA '04, which presented a generic framework for connector architectures. These architectures were defined by components, consisting of a body specification and a set of export interfaces, and connectors, consisting of a body specification and a set of import interfaces plus connecting transformations in both cases. A major restriction of this framework was given by the assumption of non-overlapping connector interfaces. In order to make the generic framework for connector architectures more applicable, it is enriched by the possibility of handling overlapping connector interfaces. Fortunately, it is possible to extend the main results presented at FESCA '04 also to the new framework. Moreover, it is shown that the new framework can be applied to UML class diagrams, state machines and sequence diagrams as heterogeneous specification techniques. The resulting connector framework, including a concept for the composition of components and architectural reduction for UML specifications, is illustrated by a case study concerning the meta data management in Topic Maps.
7151125
Agent-Based Material Flow
Our case study aims at modeling component-based software architectures and specification of applications with mobile softand hardware. We recognized typical problems in this domain for which visual modeling techniques provide solutions. For example, a component-based approach is intuitive if visual modeling techniques are applied. Moreover, interactions in a distributed system are easy to comprehend when using visual techniques. In order to solve these problems, we applied standard UML techniques. Additionally, an extension was introduced and applied: A component framework based on UML packages. This case study is part of the DFG priority programme ”Integration of Software Specification Techniques for Applications in Engineering”. It has been worked out in the sub-project IOSIP (Integration of object-oriented software specification techniques and their application-specific extension for industrial production systems on the example of automobile industry) jointly by Institute for Software Engineering and Theoretical Computer Science (ISTI) at the Technical University of Berlin, Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management (IFF) at the University of Stuttgart and Fraunhofer Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung (IPA).
2427520
A Formal Component Concept for the Specification of Industrial Control Systems
Motivated by the wide acceptance of component based technologies in software development, a component concept for software engineering is applied to modeling in the field of production automation. Taking the modeling of a holonic transport system as an example, it is shown, how function blocks in the sense of production automation can be understood as software engineering components. Thus, the advantages of component based modeling with respect to structuring, exchange and reuse can be transferred to systems in production automation.
40505356
A Generic Framework for Connector Architectures based on Components and Transformations
The intention of this paper is to extend our generic component framework presented at FASE 2002 [H. Ehrig, F. Orejas, B. Braatz, M. Klein, and M. Piirainen. A generic component concept for system modeling. In Proc. FASE '02, LNCS 2306. Springer, 2002] to a specific kind of connector architectures similar to architectural connections in the sense of Allen and Garlan [ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 1997]. In our generic component framework we have considered components with explicit import, export and body parts connected by embeddings and transformations and composition of components with a compositional transformation semantics. Our framework, however, was restricted to components with a single import and export interface. Here we study architectures based on connectors with multiple imports and components with multiple exports. Architectures studied in this paper are built up from components and connectors in a noncircular way. The semantics of an architecture is defined by reduction step sequences in the sense of graph reductions. The main result shows existence and uniqueness of the semantics of an architecture as a normal form of reduction step sequences. Our generic framework is instantiated on one hand to connector architectures based on CSP as the formal specification technique in the approach by Allen and Garlan. On the other hand it is instantiated to connector architectures based on high-level-replacement systems in general and Petri nets in particular. A running example using Petri nets as modeling technique illustrates all concepts and results.
15903228
A Component Framework Based on High-Level Replacement Systems
Abstract This paper is based on two general concepts. The first one is a generic component framework for system modeling presented at FASE 2002, which is especially useful for graph- and net-based modeling techniques. The second one is the concept of high-level replacement systems, which has been studied within the last decade as an abstraction of the DPO-approach for graph transformation systems in a categorical framework, with instantiations to a large class of different modeling techniques. In this contribution both concepts are combined in the sense that the generic transformation concept - essentially used in the component framework - is instantiated by high-level replacement systems. As the main result we show how the properties for transformations required in the component framework can be shown in the case of high-level replacement systems. Moreover, some interesting extensions concerning multiple interfaces, union, and operational semantics of components are proposed.
9604157
Conflict resolution in cooperative design
Design is increasingly becoming a cooperative endeavor carried out by multiple agents with diverse kinds of expertise. The development of tools and underlying theories for supporting cooperative design has lagged, however, behind the growing needs implied by this evolution. 
The goal of this thesis work is to provide a computational model for supporting a critical component of cooperative design; the run-time resolution of conflicts. Though the long-term goal is to support unrestricted conflict resolution among human agents, this thesis focuses on an important subset of this problem: the resolution of domain-level conflicts in routine design, using machine-based agents. 
This thesis proposes a model of conflict resolution in cooperative design that corresponds well to how human design experts actually perform cooperative design, based on analysis of their group problem solving activity. This model supports natural participation for human experts, both at development-time as domain experts asked to create machine-based agents, as well as at run-time as problem solving agents themselves. The conflict resolution model is elaborated into a detailed implemented computational theory that offers many insights into how the conflict resolution expert and design agents should operate. The model incorporates a considerable body of conflict resolution expertise applicable to a wide variety of domains, as well as techniques for acquiring further expertise and evaluating its completeness.
2898750
Ontology Versioning and Change Detection on the Web
To effectively use ontologies on the Web, it is essential that changes in ontologies are managed well. This paper analyzes the topic of ontology versioning in the context of the Web by looking at the characteristics of the version relation between ontologies and at the identification of online ontologies. Then, it describes the design of a web-based system that helps users to manage changes in ontologies. The system helps to keep different versions of web-based ontologies interoperable, by maintaining not only the transformations between ontologies, but also the conceptual relation between concepts in different versions. The system allows ontology engineers to compare versions of ontology and to specify these conceptual relations. For the visualization of differences, it uses an adaptable rule-based mechanism that finds and classifies changes in RDF-based ontologies.
665328
A Knowledge-based Approach to Handling Exceptions in Workflow Systems
This paper describes a novel knowledge-based approachfor helping workflow process designers andparticipants better manage the exceptions (deviationsfrom an ideal collaborative work process caused byerrors, failures, resource or requirements changesetc.) that can occur during the enactment of aworkflow. This approach is based on exploiting ageneric and reusable body of knowledge concerning whatkinds of exceptions can occur in collaborative workprocesses, and how these exceptions can handled(detected, diagnosed and resolved). This work buildsupon previous efforts from the MIT Process Handbookproject and from research on conflict management incollaborative design.