Ahmad Ibrahim

SeaClouds: a European project on seamless management of multi-cloud applications

The adaptive management of complex applications deployed across multiple heterogeneous PaaS platforms is one of the problems that have emerged with the cloud revolution. The recently started EU research project SeaClouds aims at providing seamless adaptive multi-cloud management of complex applications by supporting the distribution, monitoring and migration of application modules over multiple heterogeneous PaaS platforms. We present the context, motivations and objectives of SeaClouds, its relation with other cloud initiatives, and its initial architecture.

Probabilistic Prediction of the QoS of Service Orchestrations: A Truly Compositional Approach

The ability to a priori predict the QoS of a service orchestration is of pivotal importance for both the design of service compositions and the definition of their SLAs. QoS prediction is challenging because the results of service invocations is not known a priori. In this paper we present an algorithm to probabilistically predict the QoS of a WS-BPEL service orchestration. Our algorithm employs Monte Carlo simulations and it improves previous approaches by coping with complex dependency structures, unbound loops, fault handling, and unresponded service invocations.

How to Best Deploy Your Fog Applications, Probably

Deploying composite applications to Fog nodes in a QoS-and context-aware manner is challenging due to the heterogeneity and scale of Fog infrastructures. Application components must be provided with the software and hardware capabilities they need. Communication links that support interactions between components must meet certain QoS (latency and bandwidth). On the other hand, different Fog and Cloud nodes provide different software and hardware capabilities, and actual communication links support different QoS over time. In this paper we present a prototype (FogTorchII) capable of determining deployments of composite applications to Fog infrastructures, which fulfil software, hardware and QoS requirements. FogTorchII exploits Monte Carlo simulations to take into account possible variations of the QoS of communication links. It classifies eligible deployments both in terms of QoS-assurance and of Fog resource consumption. We illustrate the utility of FogTorchII over a motivating example where we compare different possible deployments for a smart agriculture application.

Analysing Multiple QoS Attributes in Parallel Design Patterns-Based Applications

Parallel design patterns can be fruitfully combined to develop parallel software applications. Different combinations of patterns can feature different QoS while being functionally equivalent. To support application developers in selecting the best combinations of patterns to develop their applications, we hereby propose a probabilistic approach that permits analysing, at design time, multiple QoS attributes of parallel design patterns-based application. We also present a proof-of-concept implementation of our approach, together with some experimental results.

Enhancing Requirements Engineering Activities through the Use of Mobile Technology Devices and Tools

Requirements elicitation, one of the most critical tasks in requirements engineering activities, is basically the process that involves communication with the stakeholders, understanding their necessities and formulating the problems to be solved. Conventional devices and tools used in different requirements gathering activities are mostly desktop computer or laptop based. Because of their size and less mobility feature, they are usually not brought to the workplace of the stakeholders. The advancing capabilities of mobile devices and mobile tools can significantly contribute to the automation of RE activities. The aim of this proposed research is to enhance requirements elicitation activities by using mobile devices and designing and implementing a web-based mobile RE tool to automate and supplement the traditional requirements elicitation process. This paper describes the ongoing research and presents the progress so far.

Automated Prediction of the QoS of Service Orchestrations: PASO at Work

Predicting the QoS of a service orchestration is not easy because of the a priori undetermined behaviour of invoked services, and because of the non-determinism (alternatives, unbounded iterations, fault handling) and complex structure (dependencies, correlations) of the workflow defining a service orchestration. In this paper we illustrate the practical usefulness of a probabilistic analyser of service orchestrations (PASO) by showing how it can be fruitfully exploited to predict the QoS of service orchestrations.

A Framework for Analyzing Activity Time Data

The purpose of the research is to solve the problem of automating the time log. Recording the activity time is an overhead for the users following the Personal Software Process (PSP). In this paper we have proposed an approach to solve this problem. Our solution consists of speech recognition based data collection approach and Rules and constraint framework. In this paper, we have discussed the problems in the existing activity time collection systems and how our approach can solve the problems.

Role of Annotation in Electronic Process Guide (EPG)

Annotations play a major part in our daily life. Similarly electronic process guide or EPG plays an important role in software development in an organization. An EPG can guide the developers about the process used or followed in an environment. The paper describes the annotation in electronic process guide for developers. We first introduced the background of the topic and some of the related researched done in the area of annotation systems. Some of the annotation systems for the Web are available either free or commercially. We then focus on the literature survey on the use of annotation tools and technique in different areas along with the usage of EPG in different scenarios. We also focus on Web based annotation for Jasmine EPG and conclusion is given with the future work.

Deploying Fog applications How much does it cost, by the way?

Deploying IoT applications through the Fog in a QoS-, context-, and cost-aware manner is challenging due to the heterogeneity, scale and dynamicity of Fog infrastructures. To decide how to allocate app functionalities over the continuum from the IoT to the Cloud, app administrators need to find a trade-off among QoS, resource consumption and cost. In this paper, we present a novel cost model for estimating the cost of deploying IoT applications to Fog infrastructures. We show how the inclusion of the cost model in the FogTorchΠ open-source prototype permits to determine eligible deployments of multi-component applications to Fog infrastructures and to rank them according to their QoS-assurance, Fog resource consumption and cost. We run the extended prototype on a motivating scenario, showing how it can support IT experts in choosing the deployments that best suit their desiderata.

Prediction of Quality of Service of Software Applications

The ability to a priori predict the Quality of Service (QoS) of a software application is crucial both in the design of applications and in the definition of their Service Level Agreements (SLA). QoS prediction is challenging because of the different possible results of service invocations, and of the nondeterminism, correlations and complex dependencies among activities.