Arnon Sturm

A Framework for Evaluating Agent-Oriented Methodologies

Multiple agent-oriented methodologies has been introduced in recent years, although only partial evaluations of these have been offered. As a result, it is difficult to select a methodology for a specific project. Additionally, there are no means for determining what the advantages and drawbacks of each methodology are. To resolve these problems, we devise a framework for evalu- ating and comparing agent-oriented methodologies. This framework focuses on four major aspects of a methodology: concepts and properties, notations and modelling techniques, process and pragmatics. We demonstrate the usage of the suggested framework by evaluating the GAIA methodology. This evaluation identifies the strengths and the weaknesses of GAIA, thus exemplifying the ca- pabilities of our framework.

Extending the Adaptability of Reference Models

Reference models are an important aid for business process modeling and design. Their aim is to capture domain knowledge and assist in the design of enterprise-specific business processes. The application of reference models for process design requires guidance in reusing these models and flexibility in adapting them to specific enterprises. One popular modeling language for specifying reference models is event-driven process chain (EPC), which has been extended to express configurable reference models, i.e., configurable EPC (C-EPC). These models provide explicit reuse guidance but allow a limited level of flexibility following a reuse by configuration approach. To increase the level of adaptability of reference models, in this paper, we propose to utilize the application-based domain modeling (ADOM) approach to specify and apply reference models by using EPC. ADOM supports the enforcement of reference model constraints while allowing high levels of flexibility, adaptability, and variability in the business processes of particular enterprises. This paper presents the syntax and semantics of the proposed approach, called ADOM-EPC, and its specialization and configuration capabilities. ADOM-EPC is evaluated by comparing it to C-EPC, a leading approach for reference modeling and reuse, in terms of expressiveness and comprehensibility. Although the expressiveness of ADOM-EPC, i.e., its set of specified reuse operations, exceeds that of C-EPC, the understandability of the two types of reference models is similar.

Utilizing domain models for application design and validation

Domain analysis enables identifying families of applications and capturing their terminology in order to assist and guide system developers to design valid applications in the domain. One major way of carrying out the domain analysis is modeling. Several studies suggest using metamodeling techniques, feature-oriented approaches, or architectural-based methods for modeling domains and specifying applications in those domains. However, these methods mainly focus on representing the domain knowledge, providing insufficient guidelines (if any) for creating application models that satisfy the domain rules and constraints. In particular, validation of the application models which include application-specific knowledge is insufficiently dealt. In order to fill these lacks, we propose a general approach, called Application-based DOmain Modeling (ADOM), which enables specifying domains and applications similarly, (re)using domain knowledge in application models, and validating the application models against the relevant domain models. In this paper we present the ADOM approach, demonstrating its application to UML 2.0 class and sequence diagrams.

Single-model method for specifying multi-agent systems

Multiple modeling methods for constructing agent-based systems have been suggested, however none of them has been accepted as a standard. A prominent reason for this is the gap that exists between agent-oriented methods and the modeling needs of agent-based systems. This gap is, in large part, due to lack of an agreed-upon set of building blocks for modeling Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) and standalone agents, and lack of support for essential software engineering properties. To bridge the gap, we suggest a set of building blocks and an agent-based modeling method. The building blocks should be useful as a basis for developing modeling methods for MAS, and as a benchmark for comparison between such methods. Our proposed modeling method, which is based on the building blocks, is novel in its ability to capture the different aspects of MAS in a single unifying framework. It further excels in providing accessibility, expressiveness and flexibility, which are major lacking software engineering properties in other methods. We demonstrate the usage of the method for modeling MAS, optionally, in conjunction with an existing MAS infrastructure. Thus, our method enhances both the utilization of existing infrastructure and the development of agent-oriented models.

Developing Complex Systems with Object-Process Methodology Using OPCAT

OPCAT – Object-Process CASE Tool – is an integrated systems engineering environment. It supports system lifecycle evolution using Object-Process Methodology (OPM). OPM integrates the object-oriented (structure) and process-oriented (behavior) paradigms into a single frame of reference through a combination of graphics and equivalent natural language. This short paper briefly describes OPM and demonstrates highlights of OPCAT and some of its capabilities.

Organisational reference models: supporting an adequate design of local business processes

Reference models, whose aim is to capture domain knowledge, can assist in the adequate design of enterprise specific business processes. In complex organisations, business processes can be locally designed by specific organisational units. However, in order to be adequate, these processes should meet the local needs while maintaining the organisational standards. For this purpose, we propose to create an organisational reference model that specifies the organisational standards, guides and constrains the different organisational units when designing their specialised local processes. We propose a reference modelling approach called application-based domain modelling (ADOM), which is capable of specifying guidelines and constraints as part of the reference model and validating a specific model against the reference model. The paper presents the principles of ADOM and in particular, its novel validation procedure. This procedure enables the organisation to ensure that the local processes are in compliance with the organisational standards, as specified in the reference model. We demonstrate the validation procedure on a purchase requisition reference model within a university and its application in two sub units: a library and an acquisition department.

Exploring the ambient assisted living domain: a systematic review

AbstractAmbient assisted living (AAL) is focused on providing assistance to people primarily in their natural environment. Over the past decade, the AAL domain has evolved at a fast pace in various directions. The stakeholders of AAL are not only limited to patients, but also include their relatives, social services, health workers, and care agencies. In fact, AAL aims at increasing the life quality of patients, their relatives and the health care providers with a holistic approach. This paper aims at providing a comprehensive overview of the AAL domain, presenting a systematic analysis of over 10 years of relevant literature focusing on the stakeholders’ needs, bridging the gap of existing reviews which focused on technologies. The findings of this review clearly show that until now the AAL domain neglects the view of the entire AAL ecosystem. Furthermore, the proposed solutions seem to be tailored more on the basis of the available existing technologies, rather than supporting the various stakeholders’ needs. Another major lack that this review is pointing out is a missing adequate evaluation of the various solutions. Finally, it seems that, as the domain of AAL is pretty new, it is still in its incubation phase. Thus, this review calls for moving the AAL domain to a more mature phase with respect to the research approaches.

Enhancing UML Models: A Domain Analysis Approach

UML has been largely adopted as a standard modeling language. The emergence of UML from different modeling languages that refer to various system aspects causes a wide variety of completeness and correctness problems in UML models. Several methods have been proposed for dealing with correctness issues, mainly providing internal consistency rules but ignoring correctness and completeness with respect to the system requirements and the domain constraints. In this article, we propose addressing both completeness and correctness problems of UML models by adopting a domain analysis approach called application-based domain modeling (ADOM). We present experimental results from our study which checks the quality of application models when utilizing ADOM on UML. The results advocate that the availability of the domain model helps achieve more complete models without reducing the comprehension of these models.

A Comparative Evaluation of Agent-Oriented Methodologies

Multiple agent-oriented methodologies were introduced in recent years, however no systematic evaluation of these was offered. In this work we perform a comparative evaluation of three well-known agent-oriented methodologies: Gaia, Tropos, and MaSE. To perform this evaluation we use an existing framework that focuses on four major facets of a methodology: concepts and properties, notations and modeling techniques, development process, and pragmatics. Analyzing the results of our evaluation, we recognize several facets that need further improvements within the existing agent-oriented methodologies. Our study does not attempt to state what the right methodology is. Rather, it examines existing agent-oriented methodologies.

From conceptual models to schemata: An object-process-based data warehouse construction method

Data warehouse modeling is a complex task, which involves knowledge of business processes of the domain of discourse, understanding the structural and behavioral systems conceptual model, and familiarity with data warehouse technologies. The suitability of current data warehouse modeling methods for large-scale systems is questionable, as they require multiple manual actions to discover measures and relevant dimensional entities and they tend to disregard the systems dynamic aspects. We present an Object-process-based Data Warehouse Construction (ODWC) method that overcomes these limitations of existing methods by utilizing the operational system conceptual model to construct a corresponding data warehouse schema. We specify the ODWC method, apply it on a case study, evaluate it, and compare it to existing methods.