Mila Keren

Using MDA for integration of heterogeneous components in software supply chains

Software product lines are increasingly built using components from specialized suppliers. A company that is in the middle of a supply chain has to integrate components from its suppliers and offer (partly configured) products to its customers. To cover the whole product line, it may be necessary for integrators to use components from different suppliers, partly offering the same feature set. This leads to a product line with alternative components, possibly using different mechanisms for interfacing, binding and variability, which commonly occurs in embedded software development. In this paper, we describe a model-driven approach for automating the integration between various components that can generate a partially or fully configured variant, including glue between mismatched components. We analyze the consequences of using this approach in an industrial context, using a case study derived from an existing supply chain and describe the process and roles associated with this approach.

Integrating heterogeneous components in software supply chains

Numerous software product lines today are built from components supplied by different vendors. Companies situated in the middle of a software supply chain must configure and integrate components from their suppliers and offer (partially configured) variants for their customers, who can then complete the configuration and use these components in product lines or products that they develop. Covering the entire product line often involves using components from multiple suppliers, many of which providing overlapping functionality. This leads to a product line with different possible alternatives for components. These components may use mismatched interfaces and therefore require glue for integration. In this paper we analyze the consequences of combining heterogeneous components -- components that are not designed using a common architecture -- in a product line. We describe the limitations of the current practice and the challenges that arise from combining such components and delivering partially configured products. We introduce a new variability pattern that allows us to deal with heterogeneous components implementing overlapping functionality. This pattern consists of a reference architectural model, as well as transformations that generate a partially configured application including artifacts for gluing mismatched components.

System Data Management: An Inter-Disciplinary Collaboration Architecture for Systems Engineering

This paper presents a novel approach to integrating systems engineering (SE) artifacts and methods with discipline-specific detailed design artifacts and processes, for the purpose of facilitating inter-disciplinary collaboration. In particular, it addresses the lifecycle management of complex products involving mechanical, electrical, electronics and software aspects, and being designed following a formal product development methodology. The primary motivation of the approach is to capture and maintain the traceability between the concrete artifacts stored in discipline-specific “repositories” and the abstract artifacts used to support system-level decisions as well as system integration. The proposed approach acknowledges the fundamental differences that exist between the various engineering disciplines and therefore favors a loose coupling based on a process-centric management of the artifacts traceability links. These considerations lead to an inter-disciplinary collaboration and infrastructure pattern called “system data management” (SDM), with the role of enforcing the integrity of the inter-disciplinary traceability between artifacts. As a byproduct, this approach suggests a novel perspective on product data management (PDM) and software configuration management (SCM) integration that sharply contrasts with point-to-point integration solutions. The authors have implemented a prototype based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) and existing PDM and SCM technologies.© 2005 ASME