On building a consistent framework for executable systems architecture

Author Affiliation

Imran Khan is Assistant Professor at Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi

Sajjad Haider is Associate Professor at Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi

Faculty / School

Faculty of Computer Sciences (FCS)

Department

Department of Computer Science

Was this content written or created while at IBA?

Yes

Document Type

Article

Source Publication

Journal of Systems and Software

ISSN

0164-1212

Disciplines

Computer and Systems Architecture | Computer Sciences

Abstract

The paper presents a framework for executable systems architecture. Termed as Consistent Systems Architecture Description and Behavior Framework (CSADBF), the framework shows how consistency can be maintained while modeling architectural description of systems as well as their behavior. Convergence of three established modeling techniques: ontology, UML, and Colored Petri Nets (CPN), is used to develop this framework. Each tool complements others in accomplishing the goal of consistency maintenance for the executable systems architecture. The framework suggests various mapping schemes that help in establishing strong concordance among different artifacts of these modeling techniques and maintaining consistency of overall system architecture. The first scheme maps OWL ontology to UML and is responsible for maintaining consistency of the architectural description. The second scheme maps combination of OWL ontology and UML to CPN and is responsible for maintaining consistency between static and dynamic views. The third scheme ensures the behavioral consistency of the architecture by providing mapping between Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) and CPN Guard conditions. Thus, the framework allows architects to model the systems architecture requirements in OWL ontology and UML and to analyze the behavior and performance of systems architecture in CPN. The paper demonstrates the framework with the help of a case study and also compares it with the existing frameworks.

Indexing Information

HJRS - W Category, Scopus, Web of Science - Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI)

Journal Quality Ranking

Impact Factor: 2.829

Publication Status

Published

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