Michael Mattsson

A QUALITY-DRIVEN DECISION-SUPPORT METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE CANDIDATES

To sustain the qualities of a software system during evolution, and to adapt the quality attributes as the requirements evolve, it is necessary to have a clear software architecture that is underst ...

A method for understanding quality attributes in software architecture structures

To sustain the qualities of a software system during evolution, and to adapt the quality attributes as the requirements evolve, it is necessary to have a clear software architecture that is understood by all developers and to which all changes to the system adheres. This software architecture can be created beforehand, but must also be updated as the domain of the software, and hence the requirements on the software system evolves. Creating an architectural structure for a system or part of a system so that the architecture fulfils the desired quality requirements is often hard. In this paper we propose a decision support method to aid in the understanding of different architecture structure candidates for a software system. We propose a method that is adaptable with respect to both the set of potential architecture structures, and quality attributes relevant for the systems domain to help in this task. The method creates a support framework, using a multi-criteria decision method, supporting comparison of different software architecture structures for a specific software quality attribute and vice versa. Moreover, given a prioritization of quality attributes for the software system, or part thereof, the most suitable software architecture structure can be indicated using the created framework.

Evaluating software quality attributes of communication components in an automated guided vehicle system

The architecture of a large complex software system, i.e., the division of the system into components and modules, is crucial since it often affects and limits the quality attributes of the system, e.g., performance and maintainability. In this paper we evaluate three software components for intra- and inter-process communication in a distributed real-time system, i.e., an automated guided vehicle system. We evaluate three quality attributes: performance, maintainability, and portability. The performance and maintainability are evaluated quantitatively using prototype-based evaluation, while the portability is evaluated qualitatively. Our findings indicate that it might be possible to use one third-party component for both intra- and inter-process communication, thus replacing two in-house developed components.

Conditions and Restrictions for Product Line Generation Migration

In this paper we describe a case study of a company in the domain of automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) that is in the process of migrating from a previous generation of software product line, which has mainly been centered around hardware, into a new product line generation, which will be software-centered. We describe the issues motivating this transition, and the factors that complicate it. Moreover, we present a three stage process for migrating into a new software product line. This process is currently initiated in collaboration with the aforementioned company.