Kamalakar Karlapalem

Workflow View Driven Cross-Organizational Interoperability in a Web Service Environment

Workflow technology has recently been employed not only within businesses but also as a framework for implementing e-services over the Internet. Such e-services typically require collaborative enactment of workflows across multiple organizations. In this paper, we propose the use of workflow views as a fundamental support mechanism for the interoperability of multiple workflows across business organizations. We present a meta-model of workflow views and their semantics using a cross-organization workflow example based on a supply-chain e-service. We also formulate an interoperation model of workflow views and its consistency criteria. Finally, this paper presents an implementation of the model based on XML and contemporary Web services technologies, with adaptation to our E-ADOME workflow engine.

Web interface-driven cooperative exception handling in ADOME workflow management system

Exception handling in workflow management systems (WFMSs) is a very important problem since it is not possible to specify all possible outcomes and alternatives. On the other hand, cooperative support for user-driven computer supported resolution of unexpected exceptions and workflow evolution at run-time is vital for an adaptive WFMS. We have been developing ADOME-WFMS as a comprehensive framework in which the problem of workflow exception handling can be adequately addressed. We present an adaptive exception manager and its Web-based interface for ADOME-WFMS with procedures for supporting the following: effective management of problem solving agents, cooperative exception handling, user-driven computer supported resolution of unexpected exceptions, and workflow evolution.

Workflow View Based E-Contracts in a Cross-Organizational E-Services Environment

In an e-service environment, workflow involves not only a single organization but also a number of business partners. Therefore, workflow inter-operability in such an environment is an important issue for enacting workflows. In this article, we introduce our approach of using workflow views as a fundamental support for E-service workflow inter-operability and for controlled visibility of (sub-)workflows by external parties. We discuss various aspects of a workflow view, and their semantics with example usage. Furthermore, we develop a contract model based on workflow views and demonstrate how management of e-contracts can be facilitated, with an Internet start-up E-service inter-organization workflow example.

Multi agent simulation of unorganized traffic

Traffic simulation is one of the most complex simulation projects that can be undertaken. The main issues are: modeling of autonomous behavior of drivers, modeling of their interaction, and ability to simulate the traffic and procure reliable realistic results. Organized traffic with drivers heeding to well defined traffic rules is less dynamic and erratic, than modeling unorganized traffic, wherein the drivers either do not heed to well defined traffic rules, or there are no traffic rules in place. This paper shows the viability of applying multi-agent simulation for unorganized traffic. In particular, we model the behavior of drivers, as being cautious, normal, and aggressive, and show results about average speed of vehicles in traffic, number of overtakes, and number of accidents occurring with different proportions of aggressive and cautious drivers. A multi-agent simulator with graphics interface has been implemented to visualize and evaluate the traffic flow.

MARGIN: Maximal Frequent Subgraph Mining

The exponential number of possible subgraphs makes the problem of frequent subgraph mining a challenge. The set of maximal frequent subgraphs is much smaller to that of the set of frequent subgraphs, thus providing ample scope for pruning. MARGIN is a maximal subgraph mining algorithm that moves among promising nodes of the search space along the border of the infrequent and frequent subgraphs. This drastically reduces the number of candidate patterns considered in the search space. Experimental results validate the efficiency and utility of the technique proposed.

An ER EC framework for e-contract modeling, enactment and monitoring

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to create mutual business relations or legal obligations. It defines a set of activities to be performed by different parties satisfying a set of terms and conditions (clauses). An e-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed and enacted (controlled and monitored) by a software system (such as a workflow system). As contracts are complex, their enactment is predominantly established and fulfilled with significant human involvement. This necessitates a comprehensive framework for generic fulfillment of e-contracts. In this paper, we present an EREC framework for designing e-contract processes, a mechanism that allows modeling, enactment and monitoring. This framework centers on the EREC model that bridges between the XML contract document and Web Services based implementation model of an e-contract.

View relevance driven materialized view selection in data warehousing environment

A data warehouse uses multiple materialized views to efficiently process a given set of queries. These views are accessed by read-only queries and need to be maintained after updates to base tables. Due to the space constraint and maintenance cost constraint, the materialization of all views is not possible. Therefore, a subset of views needs to be selected to be materialized. The problem is NP-hard, therefore, exhaustive search is infeasible. In this paper, we design a View Relevance Driven Selection (VRDS) algorithm based on view relevance to select views. We take into consideration the query processing cost and the view maintenance cost. Our experimental results show that our heuristic aims to minimize the total processing cost, which is the sum of query processing cost and view maintenance cost. Finally, we compare our results against a popular greedy algorithm.

A Frame Work for Modeling Electronic Contracts

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to create business relations or legal obligations between them. A contract will define the set of activities to be performed by parties satisfying a set of terms and conditions (clauses). An e-contract is a contract modeled, specified executed, controlled and monitored by a software system. Typically, a workflow management system is used for e-contract management. E-contracts are complex inter related workflows that have to be specified carefully to satisfy the contract requirements. Most workflow models do not have the capabilities to handle the complexities of these interrelationships. That is, an e-contract does not adhere to activity/task oriented workflow process, thus generating a gap between a conceptual model of e-contract and workflow. Therefore, there is a need for a modeling framework to conceptualize e-contracts and model the complexity of interrelationships. In this paper, we present a framework for conceptually modeling e-contracts (using ER-R data model) and a methodology to translate an e-contract to a workflow that can be executed by a workflow management system.

Workflow View Driven Cross-Organizational Interoperability in a Web-Service Environment

In an E-service environment, workflow involves not only a single organization but also a number of business partners. Therefore, workflow interoperability in such an environment is an important issue for enacting workflows. In this paper, we introduce our approach of using workflow views as a fundamental support for E-service workflow interoperability and for controlled (sub-) workflows visibility to external parties. We present a meta-model of workflow views and their semantics with example usage. We develop an interoperation model based on workflow views, with a supply-chain E-service cross-organization workflow example. We also propose an implementation of workflow view and cross-organizational interoperability based on contemporary Web service [14] technology, with respect to our E-ADOME workflow engine.

From Contracts to E-Contracts: Modeling and Enactment

Contracts are complex to understand, represent and process electronically. Usually, contracts involve various entities such as parties, activities and clauses. An e-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed and enacted (controlled and monitored) by a software system (such as a workflow system). Workflows are used to automate business processes that govern adherence to the e-contracts. E-contracts can be mapped to inter-related workflows, which have to be specified carefully to satisfy the contract requirements. Most workflow models do not have the capabilities to handle complex inter/intra relationships among entities in e-contracts. An e-contract does not adhere to activity/task oriented workflow processes, thus generating a gap between a conceptual model of e-contract and workflow. In this paper, we describe conceptual modeling of e-contracts and present a business process model for e-contract enactment. The enactment of e-contracts necessitates dynamic generation and initiation of workflows during the e-contract execution, besides the static workflows. EREC business process model facilitates an integrated approach to e-contracts enactment. Our methodology is illustrated by means of a case study conducted using Financial Messaging Solution contract for banking transactions.