A software architecture-based method and framework for the design of dynamically reconfigurable product line software architectures

Technologies to support the development of software product line architectures have recently gained the attention of industry and academia. A software product line architecture is characterized by the similarities and variations among its members. There are methods and software engineering environments for modeling, specifying, composing, configuring, and generating static target systems from reusable software architectures and libraries of domain artifacts constrained by product line feature interdependencies.; The ability to dynamically change the configuration of a software product line architecture at runtime is becoming increasingly important for many purposes. This research effort builds on earlier research into methods and environments for generating configurable target systems in conjunction with recent research into the incorporation of reconfigurability into the architecture, design and implementation of software applications. It extends this prior research by producing a method for the design of reconfigurable product line architectures and a framework for change management at runtime. The method represents the structure and behavior of components in a product line architecture to allow for dynamic reconfiguration and focuses on the production of reusable reconfiguration patterns. The framework, which is capable of providing domain-independent change management services, controls and sequences the reconfiguration process.; A proof-of-concept prototype has been implemented to demonstrate the design of integrated, reusable software product line architecture capable of dynamically reconfiguring from one configuration of the product line architecture to another. The proof-of-concept prototype builds on the Product Line UML Based Software Engineering Environment (PLUSEE), developed here at George Mason University, which addresses both domain engineering and target system configuration. Using the Reconfigurable PLUSEE, this research is validated through two case studies involving reusable design, architecture, and domain-specific architecture reconfiguration patterns. Throughout the case studies, the reconfiguration patterns are demonstrated to be reusable through the design and implementation of reconfigurable product line software architectures.