| Home > Publications > Reports > Informatics (CW) |
CW 314
I. Sora, F. Matthijs
Automatic composition of software systems from components with anonymous dependencies
Abstract
We present a mechanism for automatically composing systems based on finding a layered architecture of components to satisfy system-level requirements. We consider components with anonymous dependencies between them, expressed through required and provided properties. We propose an application-domain independent formalism for describing the client-specific configuration requests in terms of desired properties, and a composition algorithm that works well in these conditions.
Secondly, we argue that the composition method is independent from the application domain, only architecture-style dependent, which allows a larger reuse of the composition method. Configuration knowledge that is specific to a certain application domain may be incorporated in domain-specific front-end tools that accept client requirements expressed at a higher abstraction and translate them in the terms of a domain-unaware description language.
We illustrate by giving an example of automatic composition of protocol stacks within DiPS, our Distrinet Protocol Stack framework for building network subsystems. The integration of an automatic composition module into DiPS has validated our approach as a simple but powerful tool for customizing software to support client-specific requirements.
report.pdf / mailto: I. Sora