University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Modular specification of interaction policies in distributed computing

Sturman, Daniel Charles

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/23454

Description

Title
Modular specification of interaction policies in distributed computing
Author(s)
Sturman, Daniel Charles
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Agha, Gul A.
Department of Study
Computer Science
Discipline
Computer Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Computer Science
Language
eng
Abstract
  • Software executing on distributed systems consists of many asynchronous, autonomous components which interact in order to coordinate local activity. The need for such coordination, as well as requirements such as heterogeneity, scalability, security and availability, considerably increase the complexity of code in distributed applications. Moreover, changing requirements, as well as changes in hardware platforms, lead to software that is constantly evolving and complicates reuse. To support development and evolution of distributed applications requires techniques which allow coordination code to be specified, customized, and maintained independently of application components; goals which cannot be realized solely through object-oriented techniques.
  • This thesis demonstrates that meta-level specification of interaction policies enables modular description of component interaction policies, as well as customization of policy implementations. We present the high-level language D scIL for specification of protocols. The language identifies the abstractions and concepts required for modular specification of interaction policies. The abstractions developed in D scIL are then realized through a meta-level architecture. We provide several D scIL protocols implementing policies for reliable communication, atomicity, and dependability in a multi-media application.
  • The implementation techniques necessary to realize the meta-architecture are discussed in the context of Broadway, a run-time system for distributed C++ objects. This meta-architecture provides access to the system-level features necessary to support the modularity mechanisms defined in D scIL. We provided examples of protocol translation from D scIL to Broadway C++ classes that utilize the meta-architecture. Measurements show that these techniques may be implemented with minimal performance overhead. A formal semantics for reasoning about the approach is also developed.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23454
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1996 Sturman, Daniel Charles

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Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
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