Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science - Volume 8, issue 4

Authors: Kratz, Benedikt | Reussner, Ralf | van den Heuvel, Willem-Jan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this article we define metrics for measuring component interface similarity. These metrics were applied in an empirical study investigating the relationship between the functionality and the interfaces of software components. The main contributions of this article are: (i) the introduction of software component interface refactorings, i.e., transformations working on IDL-style (i.e., signature-list based) component interfaces. These refactorings are used to define a similarity metric for signature-list based component interfaces, (ii) the …definition of efficiently computable metrics measuring the similarity of software component protocols (i.e., valid call sequences to component services), and, (iii) the discussion of first insights from the metrics' application in the context of our empirical study. Show more

Keywords: software component interface design, component interoperability, empirical research in software engineering

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1-17, 2004

Authors: Gumus, Bulent | Ertas, Atila

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: There are three main objectives of requirements management; one is to capture the requirements right, the second one is to manage changing requirements, and the third one is to align the system development lifecycle activities with the requirements to make sure that the requirements are met and gold plating does not happen. Achieving the first objective depends on the structure and effectiveness of the requirements gathering and validation methodology whereas achieving the second and third objectives …depends on the ability to establish and maintain a connection between the elicited customer needs, the requirements and constraints derived from these needs, and the subsequent artifacts in which these requirements are realized. Axiomatic Design methodology aims at establishing a scientific base for design and improving design activities by providing the designer with a theoretical foundation based on logic and rational thought processes and tools. This paper will present a "quantitative requirement quality" concept based on requirement quality factors, provides a template for requirement description based on requirements attributes and incorporates these into and extended Axiomatic Design approach for better requirements management. The purpose of this paper is to support the first objective of requirements management as well as to provide a solid foundation for the second and third objectives since these two objectives cannot be achieved without a structured product development lifecycle approach. Show more

Keywords: requirement management, axiomatic design, lifecycle

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 19-31, 2004

Authors: Seker, R. | van der Merwe, A.J. | Kotze, P. | Tanik, M.M. | Paul, R.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Component-Based Software (CBS) engineering is envisioned to address the issues related to the increasing size and complexity of software systems. In CBS development, the designer designs systems by using readily available (possibly third party) software components without needing the source code for the components. Lack of source code, in general, renders the classical metrics cumbersome to use, if not useless. Coupling and cohesion aspects of a system/subsystem are the quality attributes that can seriously impact the …maintenance, evolution, and reuse. We present an information-theoretic approach based on the notion of Shannon Languages for helping the system designer in the assessment of coupling and cohesion early in the design phase. The proposed methodology is most beneficial for CBS (where the source code is in general absent) however it is applicable in other development methodologies in which the source code for the software components is available. Show more

Keywords: component-based software, Shannon languages, coupling, cohesion

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 33-43, 2004

Authors: Zeng, Yong

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper proposes a formal definition of design problem using the axiomatic theory of design modeling. Based on the concept of product system and an informal description of design problem, a design problem is formulated into three parts: environment, structural requirements, as well as performance requirements. On the basis of this formulation, both structural requirements and performance requirements are related to product environment, which is divided into natural, built, and human environments. As a result, product …environment is identified as the source of product requirements. An environment-based formulation of design problem is thus developed. This formulation implies that both design problem and design solutions are included in a product system. The design governing equation is formulated to capture the interdependence relation between product problem and product descriptions along the design process. An example of rivet setting tool design is used to illustrate the mathematical formulations throughout the paper. Show more

Keywords: mathematical formulation, axiomatic approach, structure of design problem, source of product requirements, product environment, design governing equation

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 45-63, 2004

Authors: Padberg, Julia

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper introduces safety properties in the temporal logic sense (as defined in (Manna and Pnueli, 1995)) to Petri net modules. Petri net modules (Padberg, 2001, Padberg, 2002) have been achieved by a transfer of algebraic specification modules to Petri nets. They consist of three nets; the interface nets import and export, and the body of the module. The import net states the prerequisites the modules assumes. The body net represents the internal functionality. The export …net gives an abstraction of the body that can be used by the environment. The interfaces IMP and EXP are related to the body BOD via morphisms. These modules conform with the basic concepts of components and component-based systems of Continuous Software Engineering (CSE) (Weber, 1999). We make precise what it means that a Petri net module has specific safety properties. We differentiate between explicit and implicit properties. Explicit safety properties are stated additionally to the export net. Implicit are those properties that hold in the export net without being stated explicitly. The main advantage of our approach are module operations to compose larger modules from basic ones. We can show that the composition of modules preserves safety properties: Given two modules with implicit or explicit safety properties then the composition of these modules is again a module with implicit or explicit safety properties. Show more

Keywords: Module, Petri nets, Safety property

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 65-78, 2004

Authors: Indiradevi, Krishnan G. | Nair, V.S. Suku

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Authentication protocols help to establish trust about the identities of communicating entities. Along with authorization and data confidentiality, authentication forms a critical component of most non-trivial security frameworks. Over past several years, an alarming number of seemingly secure authentication protocols have been shown to be flawed. By exploiting such flaws, malicious entities can potentially take on identities of trusted entities. Attacks on authentication protocols are often too subtle to uncover by simple …means, hence considerable research has gone into techniques for analyzing and verifying them. Though the problem is perhaps best studied using formal methods, techniques in that category are generally rather complex and specialized. This paper proposes a different approach - using simulation as a means of validation. Though unable to conclusively prove security, simulation can be very effective in uncovering hidden flaws. This could be particularly useful for large systems where it may be nearly impractical to apply formal methods. A framework is presented to model authentication protocols with state machines and to validate some of their security properties through simulation. Show more

Keywords: authentication protocols, distributed systems, protocol validation, simulation

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 79-98, 2004

Authors: Lü, Baozhan | Li, Zhangdong | Liu, Kun

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: System integration has two meanings: enterprise integration and information system integration. As one new type of enterprise integration, agile manufacturing is the means of production and management in industrial enterprise for the 21 st century, emphasizing an enterprise's capacity for rapid response and efficient reengineering when facing market opportunity. Current approaches to the design and construction of enterprise systems has lead to fixed interdependences between valuable resources. This constrains resource reuse and …the agility of systems, often preventing close alignment between system behaviour and business process requirements. This paper describes the need for agile manufacturing systems, in addition to requirements of manufacturing integration infrastructure. These components are likely to become common building blocks of next-generation agile manufacturing systems. At the same time, the reference model of System Integrated Infrastructure Based on Current Agile Manufacturing is put forward in this paper. Show more

Keywords: system integration, integrated infrastructure, agile manufacturing, reference model

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 99-105, 2004

Authors: Kawabata, Ryo | Hasegawa, Akiko | Itoh, Kiyoshi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: It is important to analyze systems in terms of collaboration tasks because the task is often observed in many systems. Collaboration tasks include various participants such as individuals, organizations and facilities. They perform activities by sharing and exchanging information and material. The authors employ a Multi-Context Map (MCM) for describing collaboration tasks. An MCM is described by connecting Context maps (CM) which have multiple perspectives. An MCM is an effective method for analyzing and describing …collaboration task. The authors propose the method for describing collaboration tasks by reusing MCM. It is effective to reuse MCM for describing a new MCM, because the similar tasks can be performed in some other systems. Same kinds of Perspectives, Information, Tokens and Materials can be used in the task. The tasks can be represented by a cascade of three or four CMs. The reusable task can be found in terms of the combination of two or three perspectives. The names of the components such as perspectives, activities, etc. can be represented by using synonyms. It is possible to identify these components by using the thesaurus. The navigation tool for supporting the process is developed. Show more

Keywords: collaboration task, reuse, system analysis

Citation: Journal of Integrated Design & Process Science, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 107-118, 2004