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ABSTRACT

Distributed Embedded Real-time Systems (DERTS) are computing systems

that are integrated inside real-world objects. Due to low computational and memory
powers, real-time constraints and distribution issues, the development of DERTS is
different and complex from enterprise software development. The increasing use of
software solutions in embedded systems, strict non-functional properties and the
wide spread demands of DERTS with increasing functionality make their design
complex. In addition, companies need reusable design in order to achieve reduced
time-to-market and cost, efficient software development and quick response to
changing business conditions. Service Orientated Computing (SOC) has been in the
industry providing interoperable and reusable software systems for many years. Due
to the advantages it provides, SOC became the natural choice for DERTS
development. As a result, the use of SOC for DERTS development is increasing.
However, mostly SOC is used for device interoperability and in ad hoc manner. Most
of the existing work is on the implementation side with very few efforts made on the
design side. In this thesis, a systematic analysis and design approach for Service-
Oriented DERTS development is proposed, with the aim of reducing complexity and
increasing reusability of DERTS design. The approach begins with the identification
and analyses of services. A step wise guideline for service identification in DERTS
environment is proposed. Then, a Service-Oriented modeling mechanism for DERTS
development is presented, which includes a service meta-model, levels of abstraction
modeling and a profile. A systematic Service-Oriented development process for
DERTS development is also proposed. The applicability of the proposed approach is
demonstrated by employing it in the smart home, autonomous mobile robot and
industry case studies. The coupling, cohesion and reusability metrics for SOC are
used to assess the complexity and reusability of the proposed approach. The results
showed that the proposed approach outperform the latest work in this area.