Proposed Reference Architecture Research Articles

Reference architecture design for developing data management systems in smart farming

The traditional data management systems prove inadequate to handle the volume, velocity, and variety of the data within farm business processes. Smart farming technologies offer advanced data management systems as a practical solution to these challenges. However, data is complex and originates from many sources; hence many aspects of data must be considered during the data management design of smart farming systems. This study proposes a reference architecture for data management in smart farming, developed through domain analysis and architecture modeling approaches. The domain analysis provides insights into the common and variant features and modules of the smart farming system, resulting in a blueprint representing family features across various smart farming domains. The effectiveness of the proposed reference architecture has been evaluated through two case studies, demonstrating its efficacy in designing data management systems for smart farming. The study found that the percentage of reused modules in the case studies, compared to the provided reference architecture, was 82.6%. The outcomes of this research will pave the way for further exploration in smart farming, particularly addressing data management issues within smart farming systems.

A model-based reference architecture for complex assistive systems and its application

AbstractComplex assistive systems providing human behavior support independent of the age or abilities of users are broadly used in a variety of domains including automotive, production, aviation, or medicine. Current research lacks a common understanding of which architectural components are needed to create assistive systems that use models at runtime. Existing descriptions of architectural components are focused on particular domains, consider only some parts of an assistive system, or do not consider models at runtime. We have analyzed common functional requirements for such systems to be able to propose a set of reusable components, which have to be considered when creating assistive systems that use models. Such components constitute a reference architecture that we propose within this paper. To validate the proposed architecture, we have expressed the architectures of two assistive systems from different domains, namely assistance for elderly people and assistance for operators in smart manufacturing in terms of compliance with such architecture. The proposed reference architecture will facilitate the creation of future assistive systems.

Design of a reference architecture in intelligent warehouse supply logistics through the use of Industry 4.0 technologies. Case of retail Warehouses in the city of Pilar

The article presents a reference architecture for intelligent warehouse supply logistics using Industry 4.0 technologies in retail warehouses in the city of Pilar. The proposed architecture is based on the integration of information and communication systems, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and a DSS, to improve the efficiency and productivity of the supply chain. In addition, some case studies are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of the architecture in optimizing lead time and reducing operational costs. Overall, the proposed reference architecture can be a valuable tool for companies seeking to improve their supply logistics and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Microservice reference architecture design: A multi‐case study

AbstractMicroservice architecture (MSA) is an architectural style that is designed to support the modular development of software systems within a particular domain. It is characterized by the use of small, independently deployable services, which can be developed and deployed autonomously. The benefits of MSA include improved scalability, fault‐tolerance, and ease of deployment and maintenance. However, developing MSA for a specific domain can be challenging and requires a thorough consideration of various concerns such as service boundaries, communication protocols, and security. To support the easy development and guidance of an MSA for practitioners, we present a reference architecture design for MSA. The reference architecture has been designed after a comprehensive domain analysis of MSA in the literature and the MSAs of key vendors. This analysis has been used to identify best practices and common patterns that can be applied to the development of MSA. Additionally, relevant architecture viewpoints have been selected to model the corresponding architecture views, providing a clear and comprehensive understanding of the architecture. To validate the proposed reference architecture, a multi‐case study research approach has been used. In this approach, two industrial case studies have been used to demonstrate the practical applicability of the proposed reference architecture. The results of these case studies have shown that the reference architecture can be used to effectively guide the development of MSA in real‐world scenarios.

MakeTwin: A reference architecture for digital twin software platform

Digital twin is currently undergoing a significant transformation from the conceptual and theoretical research phase to the implementation and application phase. However, a universally adaptable research and development platform for digital twin is critically needed to meet the development requirements. Specifically, a publicly accessible simulation, testing, and validation platform which can support digital twin model building, data processing, algorithm design, configuration, etc., is urgently required for researchers. Furthermore, for developers from the industry, a low-code development platform that can offer a customizable suite of functions such as model creation, data management, protocol configuration, and visualization is urgently needed. Meanwhile, for enterprise users, there is a lack of an application management platform that can be configured and migrated for various application scenarios, functions, and modes. Therefore, based on the system research of digital twin theories and key technologies by the authors (such as the five-dimension digital twin model, digital twin modeling and digital twin data theory, digital twin standards, and so on), a digital twin software platform reference architecture, namely makeTwin, is proposed and designed, as well as its ten core functions. The workflow of the makeTwin and the interaction mechanisms among its core functions are described. Finally, a digital twin application system for a chemical fiber textile shop floor (CFTS) which was developed according to makeTwin, is introduced, which validates the proposed reference architecture.

Towards a Reference Architecture for Cargo Ports

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are physical systems whose operations are coordinated, monitored, and controlled by computing and communication functions. These systems are typically heterogeneous, including Internet of Things and information technology subsystems, and can present a myriad of implementation details, making them very complex systems. An important type of CPS is a maritime container terminal (cargo port), which is a facility where cargo containers are transported between ships and land vehicles for onward transportation and vice versa. A cargo port performs four basic functions: receiving, storing, staging, and loading for both import and export containers. We present here process patterns that describe the functional aspects of cargo ports and a pattern that describes their structural properties (patterns are encapsulated solutions to recurrent problems). These patterns describe semantic aspects found in any cargo port and can be adapted to describe other CPSs. We decompose these process patterns into use cases that describe their interactions with the system. We then integrate the process patterns with structural patterns to assemble a partial reference architecture (RA) that shows the interactions of all the patterns while also indicating the typical stakeholders found in all ports. We validate the proposed reference architecture, highlighting its theoretical and practical value. Software and system designers of cargo ports need to start from a conceptual and abstract view that is subsequently refined to add more details. The use of reference architectures and patterns is an effective way to organize and describe the functional and non-functional aspects of a system, as well as to unify the design of all its aspects. This is, until now, the only published RA for cargo ports, and it can be a useful guideline for the designers of any type of cargo port.

A Reference Architecture for Cloud-Edge Meta-Operating Systems Enabling Cross-Domain, Data-Intensive, ML-Assisted Applications: Architectural Overview and Key Concepts.

Future data-intensive intelligent applications are required to traverse across the cloud-to-edge-to-IoT continuum, where cloud and edge resources elegantly coordinate, alongside sensor networks and data. However, current technical solutions can only partially handle the data outburst associated with the IoT proliferation experienced in recent years, mainly due to their hierarchical architectures. In this context, this paper presents a reference architecture of a meta-operating system (RAMOS), targeted to enable a dynamic, distributed and trusted continuum which will be capable of facilitating the next-generation smart applications at the edge. RAMOS is domain-agnostic, capable of supporting heterogeneous devices in various network environments. Furthermore, the proposed architecture possesses the ability to place the data at the origin in a secure and trusted manner. Based on a layered structure, the building blocks of RAMOS are thoroughly described, and the interconnection and coordination between them is fully presented. Furthermore, illustration of how the proposed reference architecture and its characteristics could fit in potential key industrial and societal applications, which in the future will require more power at the edge, is provided in five practical scenarios, focusing on the distributed intelligence and privacy preservation principles promoted by RAMOS, as well as the concept of environmental footprint minimization. Finally, the business potential of an open edge ecosystem and the societal impacts of climate net neutrality are also illustrated.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of personalization and self-adaptation for e-Health apps

There are many e-Health mobile apps on the apps store, from apps to improve a user’s lifestyle to mental coaching. Whilst these apps might consider user context when they give their interventions, prompts, and encouragements, they still tend to be rigid e.g., not using user context and experience to tailor themselves to the user. To better engage and tailor to the user, we have previously proposed a Reference Architecture for enabling self-adaptation and AI personalization in e-Health mobile apps. In this work we evaluate the end users’ perception, usability, performance impact, and energy consumption contributed by this Reference Architecture. We do so by implementing a Reference Architecture compliant app and conducting two experiments: a user study and a measurement-based experiment. Although limited in the number of participants, the results of our user study show that usability of the Reference Architecture compliant app is similar to the control app. Users’ perception was found to be positively influenced by the compliant app when compared to the control group. Results of our measurement-based experiment showed some differences in performance and energy consumption measurements between the two apps. The differences are, however, deemed minimal. Our experiments show promising results for an app implemented following our proposed Reference Architecture. This is preliminary evidence that the use of personalization and self-adaptation techniques can be beneficial within the domain of e-Health apps.

Towards adaptive technology in routine mental health care.

This paper summarizes the information technology-related research findings after 5 years with the INTROducing Mental health through Adaptive Technology project. The aim was to improve mental healthcare by introducing new technologies for adaptive interventions in mental healthcare through interdisciplinary research and development. We focus on the challenges related to internet-delivered psychological treatments, emphasising artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and software engineering. We present the main research findings, the developed artefacts, and lessons learned from the project before outlining directions for future research. The main findings from this project are encapsulated in a reference architecture that is used for establishing an infrastructure for adaptive internet-delivered psychological treatment systems in clinical contexts. The infrastructure is developed by introducing an interdisciplinary design and development process inspired by domain-driven design, user-centred design, and the person based approach for intervention design. The process aligns the software development with the intervention design and illustrates their mutual dependencies. Finally, we present software artefacts produced within the project and discuss how they are related to the proposed reference architecture. Our results indicate that the proposed development process, the reference architecture and the produced software can be practical means of designing adaptive mental health care treatments in correspondence with the patients' needs and preferences. In summary, we have created the initial version of an information technology infrastructure to support the development and deployment of Internet-delivered mental health interventions with inherent support for data sharing, data analysis, reusability of treatment content, and adaptation of intervention based on user needs and preferences.

Reference Architecture for an Integrated and Synergetic Use of Digital Tools in Education 4.0

Due to the fourth industrial revolution, the so-called Industry 4.0, which is changing industries worldwide, the requirements for education systems are changing. Employees that are working in an Industry 4.0 environment need a certain set of competencies from different categories. Including technical, methodological, social, and personal competencies. Engineering Education 4.0 aims to create a new educational paradigm that prepares tomorrow’s workforce for these challenges of Industry 4.0. This is also achieved through the introduction of new didactic concepts such as blended learning, which combines the advantages of face-to-face and distance learning as well through the utilization of digital education tools that can help to develop those competencies. The current Covid-19 pandemic has led to a huge and rapid increase in users of digital tools in education, resulting in the need for guidelines for their implementation. Thus, this work aims to develop a reference architecture for an integrated and efficient use of such digital tools in education 4.0. The proposed reference architecture enables instructors and managers of engineering education institutions to take advantage of an integrated and synergetic use of such digital tools in a post-pandemic new normal. Further top barriers for the introduction of education 4.0 have been identified and described.

Toward a Reference Architecture Model for Industrial Edge Computing

In the context of the digital transformation of the industry, whole value chains get connected across various application domains as long as economic, ecological, or social benefits arise to do so. Under the umbrella of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), traditional operational technology (OT) approaches are replaced or at least augmented by information and communication technology (ICT) systems to facilitate this development. To meet industrial requirements, for example, related to privacy, determinism, latency, or autonomy, established cloud computing mechanisms are being moved closer to data sources and actuators. Depending on the context, this distributed cloud computing paradigm is named edge computing or fog computing, and various challenges have been subject to several publications. However, a proper reference model that describes the multi-dimensional problem space, which is being spanned by this paradigm, seems still to be undefined. Such a model should provide orientation, put work in relation, and support the identification of current and future research issues. This article aims to fill this gap with a focus on industrial automation and follows analog models that have been developed for specific domains such as the Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) and the Reference Architecture Model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI4.0). The proposed Reference Architecture Model Edge Computing (RAMEC) identifies 210 views on the edge computing paradigm in the manufacturing domain. Future iterations of this model might be used for the classification of relevant research, standardization, and development activities.

Design of a reference architecture for developing smart warehouses in industry 4.0

Smart warehousing aims at increasing the overall service quality, productivity, and efficiency while minimizing the costs and failures. For designing the reference architecture, we apply a domain-driven architecture design approach and use the architecture design knowledge as presented in the software architecture design literature. We first provide the results of a thorough domain analysis process to smart warehouses to identify the key concerns that shape the architecture of smart warehouses. The domain model is presented using feature diagrams that show the common and variant features of smart warehouses. The domain analysis process is followed by the architecture design process, whereby we have used architecture viewpoints for modeling the reference architecture. Different businesses require different kinds of smart warehouses. Therefore, we present the generic business process model for both traditional warehouses and smart warehouses. The business modeling process is followed by the architecture design process, whereby we have used architecture viewpoints for modeling the reference architecture. Once the reference architecture is designed, a case study has been used to evaluate the proposed reference architecture. The case study has been conducted at a large warehouse in the food industry and illustrates the overall design method and presents the lessons learned.

FIPA‐based reference architecture for efficient discovery and selection of appropriate cloud service using cloud ontology

SummaryCloud computing is considered the latest emerging computing paradigm and has brought revolutionary changes in computing technology. With the advancement in this field, the number of cloud users and service providers is increasing continuously with more diversified services. Consequently, the selection of appropriate cloud service has become a difficult task for a new cloud customer. In case of inappropriate selection of a cloud services, a cloud customer may face the vendor locked‐in issue and data portability and interoperability problems. These are the major obstacles in the adoption of cloud services. To avoid these complexities, a cloud customer needs to select an appropriate cloud service at the initial stage of the migration to the cloud. Many researches have been proposed to overcome the issues, but problems still exist in intercommunication standards among clouds and vendor locked‐in issues. This research proposed an IEEE multiagent Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agent (FIPA) compliance multiagent reference architecture for cloud discovery and selection using cloud ontology. The proposed approach will mitigate the prevailing vendor locked‐in issue and also alleviate the portability and interoperability problems in cloud computing. To evaluate the proposed reference architecture and compare it with the state‐of‐the‐art approaches, several experiments have been performed by utilizing the commonly used performance measures. Analysis indicates that the proposed approach enables significant improvements in cloud service discovery and selection in terms of search efficiency, execution, and response time.

Evolution in dynamic software product lines

AbstractMany software systems today provide support for adaptation and reconfiguration at runtime, in response to changes in their environment. Such adaptive systems are designed to run continuously and may not be shut down for reconfiguration or maintenance tasks. The variability of such systems has to be explicitly managed, together with mechanisms that control their runtime adaptation and reconfiguration. Dynamic software product lines (DSPLs) can help to achieve this. However, dealing with evolution is particularly challenging in a DSPL, as changes made at runtime can easily lead to inconsistencies. This paper describes the challenges of evolving DSPLs using an example cyber‐physical system for home automation. We discuss the shortcomings of existing work and present a reference architecture to support DSPL evolution. To demonstrate its feasibility and flexibility, we implemented the proposed reference architecture for two different DSPLs: the aforementioned cyber‐physical system, which uses feature models to describe its variability, and a runtime monitoring infrastructure, which is based on decision models. To assess the industrial applicability of our approach, we also implemented the reference architecture for a real‐world DSPL, an automation software system for injection molding machines. Our results provide evidence on the flexibility, performance, and industrial applicability of our approach.

Reference architecture design for farm management information systems: a multi-case study approach

One of the key elements of precision agriculture is the farm management information system (FMIS) that is responsible for data management, analytics and subsequent decision support. Various FMISs have been developed to support the management of farm businesses. A key artefact in the development of FMISs is the software architecture that defines the gross level structure of the system. The software architecture is important for understanding the system, analysing the design decisions and guiding the further development of the system based on the architecture. To assist in the design of the FMIS architecture, several reference architectures have been provided in the literature. Unfortunately, in practice, it is less trivial to derive the application architecture from these reference architectures. Two underlying reasons for this were identified. First of all, it appears that the proposed reference architectures do not specifically focus on FMIS but have a rather broad scope of the agricultural domain in general. Secondly, the proposed reference architectures do not seem to have followed the proper architecture documentation guidelines as defined in the software architecture community, lack precision, and thus impeding the design of the required application architectures. Presented in this article is a novel reference architecture that is dedicated to the specific FMIS domain, and which is documented using the software architecture documentation guidelines. In addition, the systematic approach for deriving application architectures from the proposed reference architecture is provided. To illustrate the approach, the results of multi-case study research are shown in which the presented reference architecture is used for deriving different FMIS application architectures.

EleMA: A reference simulation model architecture and interface standard for modeling and testing of electric vehicles

Abstract In automotive development, simulation models are gaining significance, in particular in the early phases of verification and validation. According to the current state-of-the-art, there is no standardized simulation framework to achieve a seamless transition in the conception, implementation and integration of complex system simulations. In this paper, a reference simulation model architecture for electric vehicles is presented, which is proposed as a standard for real-time and non-real-time closed-loop simulations. The proposed Electric Modeling Architecture (EleMA) is intended as an extension of standardized model exchange formats by defining standardized, functional and signal-based interfaces of electric vehicle simulation models. It is designed independently of the utilized tool chain or exchange format of the simulation model components and enables their functional compatibility and exchangeability. Initially, an overview of standardized model exchange formats as well as the main design ideas of the proposed reference architecture are presented, followed by a short description of the applied specification methodology. EleMA provides all users a reference model including the contained components, a formalized description in the form of use case diagrams and a definition of the variant-independent component interfaces for each individual component. The implementation of simulation model components according to EleMA guarantees from an architectural point of view a functional compatibility of the elements on system level and thus improves reusability and exchangeability of simulation components. The last section demonstrates use cases to highlight the advantages of the reference architecture and quantifies the average effort reduction exemplary for one use case.

Combining Mobile Crowdsensing and Ecological Momentary Assessments in the Healthcare Domain.

The increasing prevalence of smart mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) enables the combined use of mobile crowdsensing (MCS) and ecological momentary assessments (EMA) in the healthcare domain. By correlating qualitative longitudinal and ecologically valid EMA assessment data sets with sensor measurements in mobile apps, new valuable insights about patients (e.g., humans who suffer from chronic diseases) can be gained. However, there are numerous conceptual, architectural and technical, as well as legal challenges when implementing a respective software solution. Therefore, the work at hand (1) identifies these challenges, (2) derives respective recommendations, and (3) proposes a reference architecture for a MCS-EMA-platform addressing the defined recommendations. The required insights to propose the reference architecture were gained in several large-scale mHealth crowdsensing studies running for many years and different healthcare questions. To mention only two examples, we are running crowdsensing studies on questions for the tinnitus chronic disorder or psychological stress. We consider the proposed reference architecture and the identified challenges and recommendations as a contribution in two respects. First, they enable other researchers to align our practical studies with a baseline setting that can satisfy the variously revealed insights. Second, they are a proper basis to better compare data that was gathered using MCS and EMA. In addition, the combined use of MCS and EMA increasingly requires suitable architectures and associated digital solutions for the healthcare domain.

Secure standards-based reference architecture for flexibility activation and democratisation

This study presents an open standards-based information system supporting democratisation and consumer empowerment through flexibility activation. This study describes a functional technical reference infrastructure: a secure, standard-based and viable communication backbone for flexibility activation. The infrastructure allows connection, registering, activation and reporting for different types of granular consumer flexibility. The flexibility sources can be directly controllable set points of chargers and stationary batteries, as well as controllable loads. The proposed communication system sees all these flexibility provisions as distributed energy resources in a wider sense, and the architecture allows consumer-level integration of different energy systems. This makes new flexibility sources fully available to the balancing responsible entities in a viable and realistically implementable manner. The proposed reference architecture, as implemented in the FLEXCoop project, relies on established open standards as it is based on the Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) and OAuth2/OpenID standards and the corresponding IEC 62746-10 standard, and it covers interfacing towards other relevant standards. The security and access implications are addressed by the OpenID security layer built on top of the OAuth2 and integrated with the OpenADR standard. To address the data protection and privacy aspects, the architecture is designed on the least knowledge principle.

Environmental-Perception Modeling and Reference Architecture for Cyber Physical Systems

In cyber-physical systems, physical and software components are deeply intertwined, blurring the boundaries between the cyber and physical worlds. Perceiving environmental information is a prerequisite for a cyber-physical system to be reliable and adaptive to the environment. However, the intrinsically open and dynamic nature of the environment brings challenges to the systematic realization of environmental-perception. This article regards environmental-perception as a first-class entity with self-maintenance and abstracts it into three levels: data capture, context awareness, and situation identification. Then, a five-tier reference architecture is proposed, which not only explicitly defines the perception ability at different abstraction levels, but also provides for the storage and management of environmental information, thus facilitating information reuse and the adaptation ability of cyber-physical systems. We evaluate the reference architecture with a case study on a widely used smart room environment, demonstrating its broad applicability and the ability to reuse environmental information. We also performed a survey on the proposed reference architecture to reveal its industrial motivations and benefits.

Precision Agriculture: A Remote Sensing Monitoring System Architecture †

Smart Farming is a development that emphasizes on the use of modern technologies in the cyber-physical field management cycle. Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing have accelerated the digital transformation of the conventional agricultural practices promising increased production rate and product quality. The adoption of smart farming though is hampered because of the lack of models providing guidance to practitioners regarding the necessary components that constitute IoT-based monitoring systems. To guide the process of designing and implementing Smart farming monitoring systems, in this paper we propose a generic reference architecture model, taking also into consideration a very important non-functional requirement, the energy consumption restriction. Moreover, we present and discuss the technologies that incorporate the seven layers of the architecture model that are the Sensor Layer, the Link Layer, the Encapsulation Layer, the Middleware Layer, the Configuration Layer, the Management Layer and the Application Layer. Furthermore, the proposed Reference Architecture model is exemplified in a real-world application for surveying Saffron agriculture in Kozani, Greece.