A Testing Scheme for Self-Adaptive Software Systems with Architectural Runtime Models
This addresses a gap in testing methods for engineers developing self-adaptive software systems, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing techniques like simulation and testing.
The paper tackles the lack of systematic testing for self-adaptive software systems by proposing a testing scheme that uses architectural runtime models to test feedback loops early in development, with initial evaluation from a small case study.
Self-adaptive software systems (SASS) are equipped with feedback loops to adapt autonomously to changes of the software or environment. In established fields, such as embedded software, sophisticated approaches have been developed to systematically study feedback loops early during the development. In order to cover the particularities of feedback, techniques like one-way and in-the-loop simulation and testing have been included. However, a related approach to systematically test SASS is currently lacking. In this paper we therefore propose a systematic testing scheme for SASS that allows engineers to test the feedback loops early in the development by exploiting architectural runtime models. These models that are available early in the development are commonly used by the activities of a feedback loop at runtime and they provide a suitable high-level abstraction to describe test inputs as well as expected test results. We further outline our ideas with some initial evaluation results by means of a small case study.