Unified Approach for the Integration of Distributed Heterogeneous Software Components

摘要

Distributed systems are omnipresent these days. Creating efficient and robust software for such systems is a highly complex task. One possible approach to developing distributed software is based on the integration of heterogeneous software components that are scattered across many machines. In this paper, a comprehensive framework that will allow a seamless integration of distributed heterogeneous software components is proposed. This framework involves: (a) a meta-model for components and associated hierarchical setup for indicating the contracts and constraints of the components, (b) an automatic generation of glues and wrappers, based on a designer's specifications, for achieving interoperability, (c) a formal mechanism for precisely describing the meta-model, and (d) a formalization of quality of service (QoS) offered by each component and an ensemble of components. A case study from the domain of distributed information filtering is described in the context of this framework.