Towards Assurance-Driven Architectural Decomposition of Software Systems

TL;DR

This paper proposes a 4-dimensional meta-architecture for software systems that separates different artifact types to improve assurance and integration of assurance tools throughout the SDLC.

Contribution

It introduces a novel meta-architecture that aligns abstraction layers with assurance needs, facilitating better integration of assurance techniques in software design.

Findings

Demonstrated the meta-architecture on a simple file system design

Identified design and assurance challenges addressed by the architecture

Facilitates assurance tool integration early in the development process

Abstract

Computer systems are so complex, so they are usually designed and analyzed in terms of layers of abstraction. Complexity is still a challenge facing logical reasoning tools that are used to find software design flaws and implementation bugs. Abstraction is also a common technique for scaling those tools to more complex systems. However, the abstractions used in the design phase of systems are in many cases different from those used for assurance. In this paper we argue that different software quality assurance techniques operate on different aspects of software systems. To facilitate assurance, and for a smooth integration of assurance tools into the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), we present a 4-dimensional meta-architecture that separates computational, coordination, and stateful software artifacts early on in the design stage. We enumerate some of the design and assurance challenges that can be addressed by this meta-architecture, and demonstrate it on the high-level design of a simple file system.