Finished Research Projects
DFG: EMPRESS - Extracting and Mining of Probabilistic Event Structures from Software Systems (2016-2020)
The field of specification mining aims at extracting and reconstructing models from existing software systems—models that would be precise enough to serve as specifications. Most of the current approaches abstract software behavior through models concisely representing all of the valid sequences of events that may happen during execution. However, we do not see how likely such sequences are. In EMPRESS, we want to extract probabilistic models in which transitions between events are labeled with probabilities: “After open(), 99% of executions are followed by read(), whereas 1% end up in an exception.” [more...]
DFG: ENSURE II - ENsurance of Software evolUtion by Run-time cErtification (2016-2019)
Quality attributes play an important role in different classes of software systems, e.g. safety in embedded systems and performance in business information systems. Currently, quality requirements are typically checked at design time. For evolving systems with changing environmental conditions this leads to the problem that the system may behave differently with respect to quality attributes than analyzed at design time. We propose to address this problem by developing a holistic model-driven approach, which treats quality evaluation models as first class entities. This approach uses dedicated model transformations to evolve quality evaluation models with structural and behavioral models. [more...]
BMBF: Safe.Spec - Quality Assurance of Behavioral Requirements (2017-2019)
The goal of the project Safe.Spec is the tool-based quality assurance of behavioral requirements. Safe.Spec supports users in specifying scenarios with dedicated patterns and in formalizing verification properties with natural language (structured grammars). Besides analyzing individual scenarios, we investigate the composition of scenarios to an overall specification of the requirements, which can be checked against the verification properties. [more...]
BMBF: SQuAT - Search Techniques for Managing Quality-Attribute Tradeoffs in Software Design Optimizations (2015-2017)
In SQuAT the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Stuttgart and the Universidad Nacional del Centro de Buenos Aires (UNICEN) jointly investigate new semi-automatied techniques for managing quality attribute trade-offs in software design optimizations, particularily focusing on i.) distributed search strategies, ii.) modularization of design knowledge, iii.) incorporation of user preferences and uncertainty and iv.) application of negotiation techniques for managing quality attribute trade-offs. The combined application of these aspects - which has yet to be researched - may improve the evaluation of the design space. Basis for the joint research are - among others - the in the different groups developed tools (i.e. Designbots, ArcheOpterix). [more...]