AutoRELAX: automatically RELAXing a goal model to address uncertainty

• Published in: Empirical software engineering : an international journal 2014-10, Vol.19 (5), p.1466-1501
• Main Authors: Fredericks, Erik M., DeVries, Byron, Cheng, Betty H. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adaptive systems; Compilers; Computer Science; Dynamical systems; Fuzzy; Fuzzy logic; Interpreters; Mathematical models; Networks; Programming Languages; Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems; Uncertainty
• ISSN: 1382-3256; 1573-7616
• DOI: 10.1007/s10664-014-9305-0

Dynamically adaptive systems (DAS) must cope with system and environmental conditions that may not have been fully understood or anticipated during development. RELAX is a fuzzy logic-based specification language for identifying and assessing sources of environmental uncertainty, thereby making DAS requirements more tolerant of unanticipated conditions. This paper presents AutoRELAX, an approach that automatically generates RELAXed goal models to address environmental uncertainty. Specifically, AutoRELAX identifies goals to RELAX, which RELAX operators to apply, and the shape of the fuzzy logic function that establishes the goal satisfaction criteria. AutoRELAX generates different solutions by making tradeoffs between minimizing the number of RELAXed goals and maximizing delivered functionality by reducing the number of adaptations triggered by minor and adverse environmental conditions. In a recent extension, AutoRELAX uses a stepwise adaptation of weights to balance these two competing concerns and thereby further improve the utility of AutoRELAX. We apply it to two industry-based applications involving network management and a robotic controller, respectively.