Context

With the ever-increasing evolution of software systems, their architecture is subject to frequent changes due to multiple reasons, such as new requirements. Appropriate architectural changes driven by non-functional requirements are particularly challenging to identify because they concern quantitative analyses that are usually carried out with specific languages and tools. A considerable number of approaches have been proposed in the last decades to derive non-functional analysis models from architectural ones. However, there is an evident lack of automation in the backward path that brings the analysis results back to the software architecture.

Objective

In this paper, we propose a model-driven approach to support designers in improving the availability of their software systems through refactoring actions.

Method

The proposed framework makes use of bidirectional model transformations to map UML models onto Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets (GSPN) analysis models and vice versa. In particular, after availability analysis, our approach enables the application of model refactoring, possibly based on well-known fault tolerance patterns, aimed at improving the availability of the architectural model.

Results

We validated the effectiveness of our approach on an Environmental Control System. Our results show that the approach can generate: (i) an analyzable availability model from a software architecture description, and (ii) valid software architecture models back from availability models. Finally, our results highlight that the application of fault tolerance patterns significantly improves the availability in each considered scenario.

Conclusion

The approach integrates bidirectional model transformation and fault tolerance techniques to support the availability-driven refactoring of architectural models. The results of our experiment showed the effectiveness of the approach in improving the software availability of the system.

中文翻译：

---

从软件架构到分析模型，再到后面：模型驱动的重构旨在提高可用性

语境

随着软件系统的不断发展，由于诸如新要求之类的多种原因，它们的体系结构经常更改。由非功能性需求驱动的适当架构更改尤其难以识别，因为它们涉及通常使用特定语言和工具进行的定量分析。在过去的几十年中，已经提出了许多方法来从体系结构模型中导出非功能分析模型。但是，在向后路径中显然缺乏自动化，这使得分析结果又回到了软件体系结构中。

目的

在本文中，我们提出了一种模型驱动的方法来支持设计人员通过重构动作来提高其软件系统的可用性。

方法

提出的框架利用双向模型转换将UML模型映射到广义随机Petri网（GSPN）分析模型上，反之亦然。尤其是，在进行可用性分析之后，我们的方法可以应用模型重构（可能基于众所周知的容错模式），旨在提高体系结构模型的可用性。

结果

我们验证了我们的方法在环境控制系统上的有效性。我们的结果表明，该方法可以生成：（i）从软件体系结构描述中可分析的可用性模型，以及（ii）从可用性模型返回的有效软件体系结构模型。最后，我们的结果表明，容错模式的应用显着提高了每种考虑情况下的可用性。

结论

该方法集成了双向模型转换和容错技术，以支持可用性驱动的体系结构模型重构。我们的实验结果表明，该方法在提高系统软件可用性方面是有效的。