SATURN 2013 Modeling and Documentation Session (notes)

Notes by Brendan Foote

How to Build, Implement, and Use an Architecture Metamodel
Chris Armstrong, Armstrong Process Group, Inc.

Armstrong discussed the architecture-description standard UML model, showing how an architecture description expresses an architecture, fulfills the concerns of stakeholders, and more. He uses the difference between raw accounting data and the common views the way, say, a CFO would need to because of the way that an architecture is standardized by the RFC 42010 (that is, what subset of the entire UML model is particularly useful?). This leads to his refined viewpoint metamodel. His process group has added the “architecture scenario” to the metamodel, which he points out is not in conflict with the standard. This scenario is defined by a stakeholder, and it contextualizes an architectural concern. He goes on to show how stakeholders and concerns are also connected by architecture viewpoints, of which there are several types. Those types are defined differently depending on whether you talk to TOGAF, DoDAF, etc., but a modeling system should allow you to render your viewpoints in different ways for different consumers (e.g., a grid, diagram, catalog, or dashboard).

SATURN 2013 Program Highlights from Conference Program Chairs

As program chairs for SATURN 2013, we would like to provide you an overview of the presentation program (note: information about keynotes by Stephan Murer, Scott Berkun, and Mary Poppendieck, the invited talk by Philippe Kruchten, and tutorial highlights is already available in other blog posts).

We received many high quality submissions covering the topics of front-end architecture, back-end architecture, methods and tools, and technical leadership. In total we got contributions from more than 40 companies and organizations across three continents.

On Wednesday morning you have the tough choice to decide between three great sessions. For example, Harald Wesenberg from Statoil speaks about architecting for the long term in Session 1. In Session 2, Chris Armstrong presents ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 in action, while Session 3 deals with agile practices at scale.

“Model-Based Engineering with AADL” Selected for Intel Recommended Reading List

To help developers make the most of the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL), two SEI researchers published Model-Based Engineering with AADL (Addison-Wesley Professional 2012), about which we blogged here in October.

The book has been selected for Intel Corporation’s Recommended Reading List for the first half of 2013.

Intel says

Our Recommended Reading Program provides technical professionals a simple and handy reference list of what to read to stay abreast of new technologies. Dozens of industry technologists, corporate fellows, and engineers have helped by suggesting books and reviewing the list. This is the most comprehensive reading list available for professional computer Developers.

Call for Papers: International Workshop on the Engineering of Mobile-Enabled Systems (MOBS 2013)

International Workshop on the Engineering of Mobile-Enabled Systems (MOBS 2013)
Co-located with the 35th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2013)
May 25, 2013 — San Francisco, CA USA
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/community/mobs2013

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: February 7, 2013
Acceptance Notification: February 28, 2013
Camera-Ready Version: March 7, 2013

BACKGROUND

Mobile apps are becoming important parts of enterprise and mission-critical systems that make use of contextual information to optimize resource usage and drive business and operational processes. Mobile technology is also reaching people in the field across multiple domains to help with various tasks such as speech and image recognition, natural language processing, decision-making, and mission planning.

New SEI Book on AADL Helps Developers Optimize Their Model-Based Engineering Processes

To help developers make the most of the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL), two SEI researchers have published Model-Based Engineering with AADL (Addison-Wesley Professional 2012). The book—the first guide to using this international standard to optimize development processes—is coauthored by Peter H. Feiler and David P. Gluch. Feiler, a senior member of the SEI technical staff, served as technical lead and author of the SAE AS-2C AADL standard. Gluch serves as professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, Software, and Systems Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a visiting scientist at the SEI.

Read more about the AADL book at the SEI website.

SATURN 2011 Session: Model-Driven Architecture (morning, May 19, 2011)

Notes by Jack Chen

Design and Implementation of an Agile Price Management Platform for Banking
Thipor Kong, Credit Suisse
Ulrich Hildebrand, Credit Suisse

Abstract and presentation slides

Two strategic directions being pursued:

1. consolidate IT operations on existing legacy applications in-house
2. trying to stabilize, renew, rebuild existing applications with new capabilities

Core banking processes

• we don’t sell brokerage, payments, or custody as isolated offerings
• key focus in Premium Private Banking on sophisticated banking solutions by bundling and integration

SATURN 2011: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Next 7 Years in Architecture

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the SATURN 2011 Conference theme of Architecting the Future and its focus on “7 Things You Need to Know About the Next 7 Years in Architecture.” To hone our focus on these seven topics and to ensure a rich and high-quality program, we have enlisted thought leaders from industry and from the SEI. Each thought leaders will serve as shepherd and champion for his or her respective topic, reviewing submissions and building an integrated program that may include speakers, tutorials, panel discussions, birds-of-a-feather sessions, etc.

The leaders for our 7 topics are

INCOSE Webinar May 6, Peter Feiler, Model-Based Engineering of Software-Reliant Systems with the Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL)

Thursday, May 6, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
Cost: Free

Abstract

In this presentation we first discuss some of the challenges in building safety-critical systems that are increasingly software reliant and the need for formal analysis of system models discovering system-level problems earlier in the development. We then provide a summary of the capabilities of the SAE AADL standard suite, its application in industrial initiatives and research projects, as well as its relationship to other standards. We close the presentation with a case study of an international aircraft industry initiative called System Architecture Virtual Integration (SAVI).

Register.

About the Speaker

Peter Feiler is a 25-year veteran at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). He is the technical lead and author of the SAE International Architecture Analysis & Design Language (AADL) standard suite. His research interest is in architecture-centric model-based engineering to improve the reliability of software-reliant systems.

Researchers Showing Interest in AADL Standard

In a recent paper, Peter Feiler, technical lead and author of the Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) industry standard notation, points out that more than 160 publications in refereed conferences and journals have been published about the standard since it was published in 2004 by SAE International. An updated version was published in 2009. In his research brief, Peter provides detail on the development of AADL and on MetaH, a precursor to the standard.  

Lui Sha discusses resilient mixed criticality systems

In the Sept/Oct 2009 Crosstalk issue, Dr. Lui Sha writes about complex cyber-physical systems with mixed criticality–such as defense systems, avionics systems, and medical devices–that need to be resilient against faults, failures, and hazards that are under software control. In his article, Sha reviews some architectural patterns for building resilient systems and points out that patterns are most often captured in architectural models. Sha also asserts that patterns must be adapted for “new application requirements.” In order to provide computer-aided verification of the adaptation of those patterns, formal verification in software modeling languages is recommended. He includes an example of a medical system modeled using the SAE International Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL)