Event-Based Coordination Middleware for Runtime Process Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing process modeling technologies face challenges in dynamically adapting and personalizing composite software applications at runtime, limiting their flexibility and ability to respond to changing user needs or contexts without requiring significant modifications to the underlying process model.
Innovation Solution
An event-based coordination system that translates process models into event-based applications, allowing for runtime adaptation by modifying the composition of event-based applications and using an object-oriented coordination middleware to manage tasks and events, enabling personalized and context-aware behavior without altering the original process model.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If process models are used to coordinate composite applications, then the process execution can be controlled and managed, but the system lacks flexibility for dynamic adaptation and personalization at runtime
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the process model into two independent layers: the process model layer (defining tasks and control flow) and the event-based application layer (providing runtime adaptability). This segmentation allows modifications to the event-based layer without affecting the original process model, enabling dynamic adaptation while maintaining model integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
An event-based execution environment acts as an intermediary between the process model and the composite applications. It translates process model tasks into event-based applications and enables runtime modifications through event subscriptions and publications, bridging the gap between rigid process models and flexible runtime adaptations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the process model is modified to add new features or personalize behavior, then the system becomes more adaptable, but the original process model integrity is compromised and redeployment is required
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the adaptability functionality from the process model itself and places it in the event-based execution environment. Runtime modifications are performed on event-based applications rather than the process model, taking out the variability aspect and leaving the process model intact and reliable.
Solution Approach 2:
The process model is preliminarily transformed into event-based applications during deployment, preparing the system for runtime adaptations. This preliminary transformation enables subsequent modifications without affecting the original process model, as the event-based layer is pre-configured to accept runtime changes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If event-based applications are used to enable runtime modifications, then the system flexibility is improved, but the coordination complexity between multiple applications increases
Solution Approach 1:
The event-based execution environment provides universal coordination mechanisms that work across all event-based applications. Standard event subscriptions, publications, and translations provide multi-functional coordination capabilities, reducing the need for application-specific coordination logic and simplifying the overall system complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A process model (104) specified using, for example, UML activity diagrams can be translated into an event-based model that can be executed on top of a coordination middleware (116). For example, a process model (104) may be encoded as a collection of coordinating objects (126, 128) that interact with each other through a coordination middleware including a shared memory space (124). This approach is suitable for undertaking post-deployment adaptation of process-oriented composite applications. In particular, new control dependencies can be encoded by dropping new (or enabling existing) coordinating objects (126, 128) into the space and/or disabling existing ones.