1,720,989 research outputs found
The SODA Methodology: Meta-model and Process Documentation
No full textThe SODA methodology deals with MAS analysis and design, and focuses on critical issues such as agent coordination and MAS-environment interaction. After its first formulation, in order to further meet the needs of complex MAS engineering, SODA was extended to embody both the layering principle and the Agents & Artifacts (A&A) meta-model. As a result, both the SODA meta-model and the SODA process were re-defined, also to include two new phases—Requirement Analysis and Architectural Design. This chapter is then devoted to the documentation of the complete SODA process according to the FIPA standard
The Gaia Methodology Process
No full textGaia was the first complete methodology proposed for the development of multi-agent systems (MASs), and was subsequently improved to designing and building systems in complex, open environments. Gaia focuses on the use of the organizational abstractions to drive the analysis and design of MAS. Gaia models both the macro (social) aspects and the micro (agent internals) aspects of MAS, and devotes a specific effort to model the organizational structure and the organizational rules that govern the global behavior of the agents in the organization. In this chapter we present the complete documentation of the Gaia process following the IEEE-FIPA Documentation Template
The IEEE-FIPA Standard on the Design Process Documentation Template
No full textNowadays, it is a matter of fact that a “one-size-fit-all” methodology or design process useful and fitting every kind of problem, situation, or design context does not exist. (Situational) Method Engineering (SME) discipline aims at determining techniques and tools for developing ad hoc design methodologies. SME mainly and highly focuses on the reuse of portion of existing design processes or methodologies (the method fragments). In order to have means for creating SME techniques and tools and for creating new design processes, some key elements are needed: a unique process metamodel for representing design processes and fragments, a proper template for the description of AO design processes and for the description of method fragments. The FIPA Design Process Documentation and Fragmentation Working Group gave an important contribution to the SME research area in terms of the IEEE-FIPA standard Design Process Documentation Template (DPDT) that provides a standardized template for the description of design processes
MDE & MDA in a Multi-Paradigm Modeling Perspective
Full text linkSince most complex software systems are intrinsically multi-paradigm, their engineering is a challenging issue. Multi-paradigm modeling (MPM) aims at facing the challenge by providing concepts and tools promoting the integration of models, abstractions, technologies, and methods originating from diverse computational paradigms. In this chapter, the authors survey the main MPM approaches in the literature, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and compare them according to three main criteria—namely, (1) the software development process, (2) the adoption of meta-model techniques, (3) the availability of adequate supporting tools. Furthermore, the authors explore the adoption of other promising approaches for the engineering of multi-paradigm systems, such as multi-agent systems (MAS) and systems of systems (SoS), and discuss the role of situational process engineering (SPE) in the composition of multi-paradigm software processes
Introduction
No full textNowadays, software engineers face a wide range of particular application domains such as electronic commerce, enterprise resource planning, mobile computing, self-organisation, pervasive and adaptive computing, etc. The resulting heterogeneity and required functionalities call for complex systems and open architectures that may evolve dynamically over time so as to accommodate new components and meet new requirements. This is probably one of the main reasons why the agent metaphor and agent-based computing are gaining momentum in these areas
On the Interplay of Crosscutting and MAS-Specific Styles
No full textThis paper presents a systematic case study that analyzes the influence exerted by different styles over the nature of architectural crosscutting concerns in an evolving multi-agent system. The analysis encompassed the systematic comparison of alternative architecture decompositions for the same application that changed over time to address different stakeholders' concerns
Simulation in Agent-Oriented Software Engineering: The SODA Case Study
No full textThe key role of simulation in the engineering of complex multiagent systems (MAS) is today generally acknowledged in the MAS community. However, the adoption of simulation in state-of-the-art Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methodologies is still incomplete at its best. In this paper we present a simulation-based approach to MAS engineering and discuss its integration within AOSE methodologies. Integration is first discussed in general by adopting standard method engineering techniques, then detailed by means of a case study—that is, integrating simulation in SODA
Special track on: Agent-oriented software engineering methodologies and systems
No full textEditorial Message: Special Track on Agent-Oriented Software Engineering Methodologies and System
On the Quantitative Analysis of Architecture Stability in Aspectual Decomposition
No full textArchitectural aspects are expected to modularize widely-scoped concerns that naturally crosscut the boundaries of system components at the software architecture level. However, there is no empirical knowledge about the positive and negative influences of aspectual decompositions on architecture stability. This paper analyzes the influence exerted by the aspect-oriented composition mechanisms in the stability of crosscutting concerns in an evolving multi-agent software architecture. Our investigation encompassed a comparative analysis of aspectual and non-aspectual decompositions based on different architectural styles. In particular, we assessed various facets of components' and compositions' stability through such alternative designs of the same multi-agent system using conventional quantitative indicators. The evaluation focused upon a number of architecturally-relevant changes that are typically performed through real-life maintenance tasks
Towards filling the gap between AOSE methodologies and infrastructures: requirements and meta-model
Full text linkMany different methodologies have been proposed
in Agent Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) literature, and
the concepts they rely on are different from those adopted when
implementing the system. This conceptual gap often creates
inconsistencies between specifications and implementation. We
propose a metamodel-based approach that aims to bridge this
gap, resulting in an integrated meta-model that merges the best
aspects of four relevant AOSE methodologies (GAIA, Tropos,
SODA and PASSI). The meta-model assembly followed a welldefined
process: for each methodology to be integrated in the
meta-model, we elicited the requirements, identified a set of
process fragments, thoroughly compared the concepts belonging
to the various fragments, and finally composed the meta-model
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