Project Title:

System for Architecture Reuseability Analysis (SARA)

94-1	06.01	3370		

System for Architecture Reuseability Analysis (SARA)

Abstract:

The central role of architecture in achieving high levels of reuse 
is a basic tenet of domain analysis methods and megaprogramming 
concepts. However, most notations for representing architectures 
only capture the functional decomposition of the system. The 
architectural elements that most influence reuse- constraints and 
interfaces- are not captured. To address this problem, Software 
Productivity Solutions propose to build the System for Architecture 
Reuseability Analysis (SARA) that will assess the reuseability of 
existing and proposed software architectures.
SARA's approach employs an innovative application of an existing 
constraint-based modeling tool to represent the full architecture 
of systems. SARA can then analyze these representations to assess 
the reuseability of the architectures, both in terms of specific 
reuse attributes and quantitative measures of reuseability (e.g., 
the number of constraints per architecture object).
SARA's feedback will enable architectures under development to be 
optimized with respect to reuseability. SARA will also assess the 
reuseability of existing architectures to assist in planning reuse-
based development efforts. A potential application of SARA is the 
NASA Renaissance initiative which is attempting to define an 
overall mission architecture and development approach to field 
future systems at a much lower costs.

The need for an automated method of analyzing architectures for 
reuseability applies whenever large scale reuse or megaprogramming 
are attempted. SARA is not limited to any specific application 
domain. Commercialization of SARA can follow two paths. Our intent 
is to evolve the SARA prototype into a commercial product during 
Phase III. SPS has substantial experience in commercializing SBIR 
development initiatives. As an alternative to a separate, new 
product, the underlying architecture reuse concepts of SARA may be 
incorporated into other design or reuse tools. For example, the 
design complexity model developed by David Card, the Principal 
Investigator, has been incorporated into the Visible Analyst 
Workbench and CADRE Teamwork, existing products of third party 
vendors.

Key Words

Software Productivity Solutions
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