Reusable Software Architectures Research Articles

A Secure and Reusable Software Architecture for Supporting Online Data Harmonization.

Retrospective data harmonization across multiple research cohorts and studies is frequently done to increase statistical power, provide comparison analysis, and create a richer data source for data mining. However, when combining disparate data sources, harmonization projects face data management and analysis challenges. These include differences in the data dictionaries and variable definitions, privacy concerns surrounding health data representing sensitive populations, and lack of properly defined data models. With the availability of mature open-source web-based database technologies, developing a complete software architecture to overcome the challenges associated with the harmonization process can alleviate many roadblocks. By leveraging state-of-the-art software engineering and database principles, we can ensure data quality and enable cross-center online access and collaboration. This paper outlines a complete software architecture developed and customized using the Django web framework, leveraged to harmonize sensitive data collected from three NIH-support birth cohorts. We describe our framework and show how we successfully overcame challenges faced when harmonizing data from these cohorts. We discuss our efforts in data cleaning, data sharing, data transformation, data visualization, and analytics, while reflecting on what we have learned to date from these harmonized datasets.

An Unmanned Aircraft System to Detect a Radiological Point Source Using RIMA Software Architecture

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs), together with the miniaturisation of computers, sensors, and electronics, offer new remote sensing applications. However, there is a lack of hardware and software support to effectively develop the potential of UASs in different remote sensing applications, such as the detection of radioactive sources. This paper presents the design, development and validation of a UAS for the detection of an uncontrolled and point radioactive source. The article describes a flexible and reusable software architecture for detecting the radioactive source (NaTcO 4 , containing 99 m Tc) with a gamma-ray Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) spectrometer as a proof of concept. The UAS is equipped with multichannel air-ground communications to perform missions beyond line of sight and onboard computation to process samples in real time and thus react to any anomaly detected during the mission. An ad hoc ground control station (GCS) has also been developed for the correct interpretation of the radioactive samples taken by the UAS. Radiological spectra plots, contour mapping and waterfall plots are some of the elements used in the ad hoc GCS. The article shows the results obtained in a flight campaign performing different flights at different altitudes and speeds over the radiological source, demonstrating the viability of the system.

Software Server for Automatic Generation of Audio Lectures (uListenSrv)

<p class="Abstract">Facilitation of new methods for learning materials delivery and adoption of new learning experiences and practices in e-learning is always a challenge. Using synthesis of digital audio learning assets and learning objects as one of main sources for conducting learning is not new, but research on using audio lectures or combined audio with presentation lecture is not well investigated and adopted in traditional online learning environments. The main goal of current paper is to present requirements elicitation, software analysis, design, construction and testing of secure and reusable software architecture for production and delivery of learning resources with audio elements in university programming courses. Paper presents different architecture styles for designing the system and finish with presentation of development and usage of contemporary Software Server for Automatic Generation of Audio Lectures (uListenSrv). Main difference here is support of languages, not only in English, but not so popular languages, like Bulgarian language.</p>

Reusable Design of Data Visualization Software Architecture for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Reusable software architectures and supporting components are the focus of an increasing number of software organizations attempting to reduce software costs. A design pattern describes the solution to a recurring problem encountered in object-oriented software development. The fundamental issue of design patterns is to encapsulate the concepts that vary so as to improve reusability. In this paper, we propose a data visualization software architecture for unmanned aerial vehicles. The proposed solution aims to improve the reusability of these systems using design patterns as development artifacts. The architecture is part of a ground control station for unmanned aerial vehicles. Essential aspects of the architecture as well as the developed working prototype are described.

Software Framework for Prototyping Embedded Integrated Vehicle Health Management Applications

Integrated vehicle health management is a major component in a new, future fleet-management paradigm where a conscious effort is made to shift aircraft maintenance from a schedule-based approach to a more proactive and predictive approach (that is, condition-based maintenance). Its goal is to maximize fleet operational availability while minimizing the logistics footprint through monitoring of the deterioration of equipment conditions. A comprehensive integrated vehicle health-management system will be executed in an environment that includes different sensor technologies, multiple information systems, and different data models. Integrated vehicle healthmanagement implementers have to therefore deal with an integration problem that involves different specialized algorithms and embedded hardware platforms. Integrated vehicle health management applications will have common execution logic, and many will share the same data-processing algorithms; hence, development productivity and the quality of integrated vehicle health management applications can be increased through reusable software building blocks and algorithm libraries or, in particular, by using a software development framework. This paper presents an approach to distributed integrated vehicle health management systems that offers reusable software architecture for a class of integrated vehicle health management applications. The focus of this paper deals with an open software framework for development of integrated vehicle health management applications stemming from the open system architecture for a condition-based maintenance specification, which is an architecture-promoting interoperability and a component framework that enables reuse, data-process partitioning, configuration, and rapid prototyping. The framework is developed using Java and Internet communications engines’ distributed middleware, and its application is demonstrated through a gearbox health-monitoring system, where the integrated vehicle health management software is deployed on the distributed embedded devices. This approach provides software-enabled capability to distribute/reconfigure the integrated vehicle health management data process (through the open system architecture for condition-based maintenance common interface and data model) across the hardware platforms to meet the given system configuration. The performance evaluation for the test example shows negligible overhead in the central processing unit, bandwidth, and latency when using the framework.

The Development of Object-Oriented SECS Communication Module Using Java, UML and Design Patterns

This paper develops an SECS Communication Module, which conforms to SEMI standard, using the Object-oriented Analysis/Design (OOA/D) method. The two main features of SECS Communication Module are Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Design Patterns for developing flexible and reusable software architecture and JAVA program language for implementing SECS Communication Module. The developed SECS communication module can not only be integrated into cluster tool control but can also run stand-alone in a communication equipment.

Engineering manufacturing control systems using PROSA and delegate MAS

This paper presents a systematic description of a reusable software architecture for multiagent systems in the domain of manufacturing control. The architectural description consolidates the authors' expertise in this area. Until now, the research has taken a manufacturing control perspective of multiagent systems. The research team has focused on providing benefits to the manufacturing control domain by designing a novel type of control system. This paper takes a software architectural perspective of multiagent manufacturing control. The systematic description specifies a software product line architecture for manufacturing control. The paper describes the assets of the software product line architecture and how these assets can be combined.

Reusable software architectures for aerospace systems

Modern, complex control systems for specific application domains often display common system design architectures with similar subsystem functionality and interactions. The similarities between these subsystems in most spacecraft can be exploited to create a model‐driven system development environment and then transformed into software or hardware either manually or automatically. Modifications to software and hardware during operations can be similarly made in the same controlled way. The approach is illustrated using a spacecraft attitude determination and control subsystem, but applies equally to other types of aerospace systems.

An application framework for dynamic distributed software architectures

There are compelling reasons to combine the concepts of an architecture description language with those of an object-oriented framework to provide support for the development of reusable and extensible software architectures. This paper presents C++CL, an object-oriented framework for developing reconfigurable distributed software architectures, which follows that approach. The reconfigurability of C++CL enables us to develop distributed systems, which require changes to take place during run time without having to shut the system down. Examples of systems of this kind are evident in banking, industrial control and telecommunications and are becoming more common in many other areas. The main focus of the paper is to show how C++CL supports re-usability and the evolution of distributed systems through the use of inheritance and the modelling of architectural styles. Inheritance can be applied not ony to the components of an architecture but to the description of the architectural configuration itself. An architectural style, similarly to a pattern, defines an architecture-based solution to a family of problems. The combination of those two concepts provides powerful support for re-usability of architecture descriptions.

Methods and tools for the automated configuration of distributed applications from reusable software architectures and components

A reuse-oriented perspective is taken to designing and implementing configurable distributed applications. An application domain is defined as a family of systems that have some features in common and others that differentiate them. During domain engineering, reusable specifications, architectures and component types are developed, which capture the similarities and variations of the family of systems that compose the application domain. Target systems are generated by tailoring the reusable specification and architecture given the requirements of the target system, and configuring a target system based on the tailored architecture. The paper describes a method and software engineering environment for configuring distributed applications from a reusable architecture and library of predefined component types.

An application engineering workbench for tailoring Ada flight components

1. ABSTRACT The Application Engineering Workbench is an interactive tool that automates the production of satellite flight software. The Workbench uses a hierarchy of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to guide the satellite engineer through the process of entering the requirements of a flight software system. These requirements are captured in a relational database and are used to generate tailored Ada components. The decision model is the underlying mechanism that groups and orders the user’s decisions. It enables the human to specify and the software to use mission requirements. The Workbench was developed by the recently completed Reusable Software Architecture for Spacecraft (RSAS) program. 1.1

Formal methods and requirements engineering: Challenges and synergies

Formal methods (FM) are already making important contributions to both theory and practice in the field of requirements engineering (RE). This article presents an overview of work in this area drawing on discussions and presentations which took place at an international workshop held in December 1996. Our aim is first to outline the current demonstrated capability of FM to support RE and then to present some of the recent developments which seem most likely to result in practical methods in the near future. Some of the significant themes identified are: the use of theorem-provers and model-checking tools, the application of formally-based requirements acquisition strategies, development of reusable software architectures which can anchor requirements elaboration, and formal treatment of inconsistency and the use of multiple notations.

Creating reusable architectures

Achieving systematic reuse of software designs requires the creation of a reusable software architecture. This paper describes initial experience of creating reusable architectures in the avionics domain. A case-study is presented which illustrates the RACE (Reusable Architecture Creation and Employment) process. In RACE, a variability analysis is used to identify possible variations in a family of systems, which then guides the creation of a generic architecture and a set of architectural "plug-ins." The paper concludes with a set of RACE guidelines which summarises our initial experience.

A Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Environment for reusable software requirements and architectures

A Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Environment for reusable software requirements and architectures

Reusable software requirements and architectures for families of systems

In this article, an application domain perspective is applied to software reuse. An application domain is represented by a family of systems that have some features in common and others that differentiate them. A domain model is a problem-oriented architecture that captures the similarities and variations of the family of systems that compose the application domain. Because the application domain requirements capture the composite features of the members of the family, they are categorized as kernel (required by all family members) or optional (required by some family members). It is the optional features that determine the characteristics of a given target system. The relationship between the domain requirements and the object types in the domain model are captured by means of feature/object dependencies, which define the object types and prerequisite features needed to support a given feature. Software architectures are reused by selecting those features required in a target system and then tailoring the domain model, subject to the appropriate feature/object dependency constraints, to generate the target system specification.