Model interoperability via Model Driven Development

Among the factors that contribute to the inherent complexity of the software development process is the gap between the design and the formal analysis domains. Software design is often considered a human oriented task while the analysis phase draws on formal representation and mathematical foundations. An example of this dichotomy is the use of UML for the software design phase and Petri Nets for the analysis; a separation of concerns that leads to the creation of heterogeneous models. Although UML is widely accepted as a language that can be used to model the structural and behavioural aspects of a system, its lack of mathematical foundations is seen as a serious impediment to rigorous analysis. Petri Nets on the other hand have a strong mathematical basis that are well suited for formal analysis; they lack however the appeal and the ease-of-use of UML A pressing concern for software developers is how to bridge the gap between these domains and allow for model interoperability and the integration of different toolsets across them, and thus reduce the complexity of the software development process. The aim of this paper is to present a Model Driven Development (MDD) model transformation which supports a seamless transition between UML and Petri Nets. This is achieved by model interoperability from UML Sequence Diagrams to Petri Nets and supported by tool integration. The model transformation framework allows a software system to be designed in terms of UML Sequence Diagrams and subjected to formal analysis by taking advantage of the strong mathematical framework of Petri Nets. The behaviour of a Personal Area Network will be used to illustrate the proposed approach and to highlight model interoperability and tool integration through the design, the transformation and the analysis phases. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.