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On the Importance of Truly Ontological Distinctions for Standardizations: A Case Study in the Domain of Telecommunications
Abstract
Standards are documents that aim to define norms and common understanding of a subject by a group of people. In order to accomplish this purpose, these documents must define its terms and concepts in a clear and unambiguous way. Standards can be written in two different ways: by informal specification (e.g. natural language) or formal specification (e.g. math-based languages or diagrammatic ones). Remarkable papers have already shown how well-founded ontology languages provide resources for the specification’s author to better distinguish concepts and relations meanings, resulting in a better specification. This paper has the objective to expose the importance of truly ontological distinctions for standardizations. To achieve this objective, we evaluate a math-based formal specification, in Z notation, using a well-founded ontology language for a telecommunications case study, the ITU-T Recommendation G.805. The results confirm that truly ontological distinctions are essential for clear and unambiguous specifications.
... As already pointed, in (DIJKSTRA et al., 2008), the mapping was not formally specified, it was described using natural language (English), which is notoriously ambiguous (KOOIJ, 1973). The usage of natural languages for domain formalizations may lead to a document with a series of deficiencies, undermining its comprehension and use in interoperation, in decision-making, or in problem solutions (BARCELOS et al., 2016;GUIZZARDI, 2005GUIZZARDI, , 2007. ...
... A mathematical notation (logic-based) description is used in (DIJKSTRA et al., 2008) for their algebra to verify the validity of network connectionsi.e., to specify how paths (end-to-end connections) happen in the network. However, even mathematical notations (not aware of ontological distinctions) are not well suited for domain representation (BARCELOS et al., 2016). ...
... Despite all relevant advantages of the formal specifications' usage, this kind of formalization may be loose, allowing multiple interpretations by stakeholders and, thus, allowing undesired different interpretations (and even implementations, considering a computational scenario) (BARCELOS et al., 2016). The lack of ontological distinctions in formal specifications has already been addressed in (BARCELOS et al., 2016), which highlights their importance. ...
Provisioning is an important activity in the configuration of networks. The ITU-T Recommendation M.3400 defines network provisioning as the "procedures which are necessary to bring an equipment into service, not including installation". Resource and service provisioning are recent challenges in communication network planning and important activities in paradigms of future networking, like service-oriented networks, cloud networking, and network virtualization. Considering the problems identified in the literature, this thesis investigates the use of semantic technologies, especially ontologies, to solve the lack of interoperability in the transport network area and the use of these technologies as the basis for a computational solution that can provision technology-independent multi-layer transport networks considering the networks equipment states. This thesis contributes to the network provisioning area, a subarea of network management, by developing an ontology-based provisioning solution for technology-independent multi-layer transport networks. To accomplish this objective, (i) an Ontology Reference Model for technology-independent multilayer transport networks based on the Recommendation ITU-T G.800 was built with an expressive well-founded ontology language to the definition of precise semantics. The Ontology Reference Model allows communication, learning, and interoperation in the transport network area. In addition, (ii) a semantically improved network model for the provisioning of transport networks, here called OWL Computational Ontology, was generated from the Ontology Reference Model through a rigid ontology engineering; and (iii) an ontology-based network provisioning knowledge-based system that uses the OWL Computational Ontology as a knowledge base was implemented. Results of a test on an Optical Transport Network example confirm that the developed system is able to perform circuit provisioning and connection provisioning on multi-layer transport networks considering the equipment states.
... Due to its various applications in different fields, it attracted lots of attentions from the researchers B Wei Gao gaowei@ynnu.edu.cn 1 in different disciplines, including knowledge management, collaboration, information systems, image retrieval, information retrieval search extension, and intelligent information integration. As a result, it turns out to be an effective concept semantic model and it's favored by researchers from chemistry, biology, pharmaceutics, geo-information systems, social science and many other different fields (See Barcelos et al. [1], Kutikov et al. [2], Grandi [3], Morente-Molinera et al. [4] and Hoyle, and Brass [5] for more details). ...
... Due to its various applications in different fields, it attracted lots of attentions from the researchers B Wei Gao gaowei@ynnu.edu.cn 1 in different disciplines, including knowledge management, collaboration, information systems, image retrieval, information retrieval search extension, and intelligent information integration. As a result, it turns out to be an effective concept semantic model and it's favored by researchers from chemistry, biology, pharmaceutics, geo-information systems, social science and many other different fields (See Barcelos et al. [1], Kutikov et al. [2], Grandi [3], Morente-Molinera et al. [4] and Hoyle, and Brass [5] for more details). ...
... The quality of β can be measured by l, the principal function (or loss function). Meanwhile, the sparsity of sparse vector βis measured by the balance term λ β 1 . More details about the method of cross-validation can refer to Mancinelli et al., [28], Zhu et al., [29], Mukhopadhyay and Bhattacharya [30], Ishibuchi and Nojima [31], Zhang et al., [32] and Varmuza et al., [33] in terms of the selection of the balance parameter λ. ...
As a popular data management and computation tool, ontology is widely used in material science, biological genetics, chemistry, biology and pharmaceuticals. It can be regarded as a dictionary or a database, and the key of various ontology applications is similarity measuring between concepts in ontology. In this paper, we propose a new ontology learning algorithm for ontology similarity measuring and ontology mapping by means of singular value decomposition method and deterministic sampling iteration. Then, the new ontology learning is applied in plant science, gene biology, bionics and physics ontologies. The data results show the high efficiency of our singular value decomposition based ontology learning algorithm for ontology similarity measuring and ontology mapping.
... The NDL research inspired other efforts to provide a proper network ontology. In [42], researchers evaluated the ITU-T G.805 recommendation using the UFO concepts and OntoUML constructs. Although their aim was not to produce a network ontology, it was fundamental to show the ambiguities of the recommendation's terms and definitions and how useful it is to describe them using a foundational ontology. ...
... However, this definition does not contribute to a good domain characterization of how information is transferred between communication entities or what conventions must be followed before communication occurs. Inspired by previous analysis [42,48], we use OntoUML constructs as our conceptual modeling tool to improve our understanding of which entities, relationships, and processes are involved in a communication scenario. ...
The fulfillment of the Always Best Connected & Served concept in future mobile wireless networks
depends on their ability to maintain a seamless association between the user’s equipment and
the network. As a result, many researchers and developers have proposed several decision-support
mechanisms to cope with this challenge. One of the promising mechanisms to aid mobile wireless
networks in achieving ubiquitous coverage with a seamless connection is semantic reasoning. However,
once it relies on ontologies, proper representation of Link and Connection – entities that bind the
communication nodes – is paramount. Unfortunately, although several network-related ontologies
present these concepts, they are unclear on which entities they bind, nor do they present them
simultaneously. Also, the same ambiguity can be perceived in vocabulary recommendations of several
telecommunication standard bodies. Our main contribution is the ontological analysis that clarifies
the definition of Link and Connection in telecommunication domain. Besides, we analyze their
dependencies while refining other concepts such as Medium, Server, and Neighbor. Thus, we provide
the foundations for a new network-related ontology to support mobility management in wireless
networks.
... In the past few years, we have been observing a shift in the Networking paradigm, with large part of the network control moving from hardware to software in the context of an increased virtualisation of networks. This move has been accompanied by an increase of interest in declarative software models (conceptual models) for the domain [1]. Additionally, we have witnessed the migration of network services to profit from the growing adoption of distributed cloud computing technologies in 5G networks. ...
... These works, however, despite discussing architectural and implementation aspects of VNF marketplaces, do not propose an explicit reference model for this domain. In fact, despite the recent interest in conceptual models in the area of computer networks (e.g., [1]), to the best of our knowledge, the proposal presented here is the first explicit, reusable, ontology-grounded Reference Conceptual Model for VNF marketplaces. We also highlight that, in both these existing works in the literature, the focus is on scalability issues, while our proposed reference model targets the marketplace business model. ...
Recently, we witnessed a shift in the Networking paradigm, with large part of the network control moving from hardware to software. This move has been accompanied by an increase of interest in declarative software models (conceptual models) for the domain. Moreover, novel architectures allow services to be deployed in multiple domains. These changes call for new business models to allow the commercialization of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). This paper proposes the creation of an ontology-based reference conceptual model to support VNF Marketplaces, allowing VNF vendors and infrastructure providers to commercialize VNFaaS (VNFs as services). The proposed reference model has been engineered by using foundational ontology techniques (UFO/OntoUML), it has been formally validated by using model simulation techniques, and it has been implemented in OWL.
... Also, we present a model-driven engineering (MDE) platform that supports OntoUML modelling. This modelling tool has been developed as an academic effort for several years under the name of OntoUML Lightweight Editor (OLED) [2][3][4][5]. Recently, OLED has been entirely refactored and transformed into a commercial tool, named Menthor Editor 2 . ...
... First, the tool provides a class diagram interface with OntoUML stereotypes ( Figure 2). Second, Sparx's Enterprise Architecture 3 (EA) tool may be used for modelling, where the models may be exported to Menthor Editor using an OntoUML plug-in for EA, i.e. a UML profile that reflects OntoUML meta-model, implemented with the MDG technology 4 . Domain ontologies are modelled in OntoUML, having constraints formalized with OCL. ...
The lack of well-founded constructs in ontology tools can lead to the construction of non-intended models. In this demonstration we present the Menthor Editor, an ontology-driven conceptual modelling platform which incorporates the theories of the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO). We illustrate how UFO categories can improve the design of domain ontologies. Moreover, the verification and validation approaches are demonstrated with ontologies of our catalogue. The complete execution of the model-driven engineering is exemplified, including situation modelling.
... At the same time, the use of ontologies in standards and standardization has also been shown to be useful by e.g. [7,8]. ...
Software engineering standards often utilize different underpinning metamodels and ontologies, which sometimes differ between standards. For better adoption by industry, harmonization of these standards by use of a domain ontology has been advocated. In this paper we apply this approach in a proof of concept project. We recommend the creation of a single underpinning abstract domain ontology, created from existing ISO/IEC standards including ISO/IEC 24744 and 24765 and supplemented by any other sources authorized by SC7 as being appropriate and useful. Such an adoption of a single ontology will permit the re-engineering of existing International Standards such as 12207, 15288 and 33061 as refinements from this domain ontology so that these variously focussed standards can all inter-operate.
In the past few years, the community that develops i* has become aware of the problem of having so many variants, since it makes it difficult for newcomers to learn how to use the language and even to experts to efficiently exchange knowledge and disseminate their proposals. Moreover, this problem also delays the transfer of the i* framework to industrial settings. Our work is one of the current attempts to promote interoperability among the existing variants, and it does that by investigating the semantics behind the i* core concepts. For that, we apply a foundational ontology named UFO, which is used as a semantically coherent reference model to which the language should be isomorphic. In this paper, we report on the steps we have pursued, what we have accomplished so far, also setting the context for the work ahead.
Normative Acts are important legislative and regulatory documents made by different governmental organs. Every year, a huge amount of information is provided in Normative Acts by these organs without control, i.e., there is no effective way to verify redundancies, inconsistencies, crossimpact and ambiguities. In this paper, we propose a domain ontology for Normative Acts based on official documents (the Brazilian Constitution and the Redaction Manual of the Presidency of the Republic) as a reference model that can be used to improve communication, interoperation and automation of Normative Acts. The reference model is built with a highly expressive wellfounded language within a methodology that ensures its quality.
Traditionally, instances of attributes in conceptual modeling languages are associated to values like “1,86”, “small” or “John”. But what do such values mean? What is the realworld semantics behind these attributes and their values? An approach to improve the semantics of conceptual modeling languages is to ground them on ontological theories. Following this strategy, over the last decade, the foundational ontology UFO has been applied to create the OntoUML modeling language, an ontologically well founded version of UML. In the current work we present extensions to UFO in order to improve the ontological foundations concerning value spaces by employing the notion Semantic Reference Spaces. A concrete application of this theory is presented, applying the proposed UFO extensions to ground an ontologically founded version of (Onto)UML Datatype classes. A prototype editor of the proposed extension to OntoUML is also presented in order to illustrate the applicability of the ideas discussed here.
Ontology-driven conceptual modeling is the activity of capturing and formalizing how a community perceives a domain of interest, using modeling primitives inherited from a foundational ontology. OntoUML is an example of a language that supports such activity, whose design derives from the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO).
Ontologies, in the sense of reference conceptual models, are useful in many fields. They include model-driven development of software systems, development of knowledge-based application (in the context of Semantic Web), semantic interoperability between information systems, and evaluation of modeling languages, to cite some. Regardless of the application, the quality of an ontology is directly related the quality of the results.
Ontology and conceptual model quality encompasses a vast range of criteria. The validation activity aims to improve the domain appropriateness of a model. This means to help improve modeler’s confidence in saying: “I built the right model for my domain”.
This thesis presents a validation framework usable by “managers” of the ontology world, i.e. modelers that are not experts in validation, logics and formal methods. The framework contains techniques and tools to help modelers systematically improve the quality of their models without demanding costly learning requirements. We build our framework on two conceptual pillars: model simulation and anti-patterns.
OntoUML and OWL are ontology languages appropriated to different knowledge representation levels. In order to have better knowledge representation and reasoning capabilities in OWL ontologies, an Ontology Engineering should be used – which corresponds to the transformation of a conceptual model ontology language, such as OntoUML, to a computational ontology language, such as OWL. This paper aims to bridge the expressivity gap between these languages through a Model Driven Architecture automated transformation from OntoUML to OWL with SWRL rules that contributes to (i) make easier the OWL creation from OntoUML, (ii) eliminate the human errors in this process, (iii) improve the resultant OWL ontology semantics.
The construction of large-scale reference conceptual models and ontologies is a complex engineering activity. To develop high quality models, a modeler must have the support of expressive engineering tools such as theoretically well-founded modeling languages and methodologies, ontological patterns and computational environments. Patterns and Anti-Patterns are known to be an efficient way to reuse knowledge from experts’ successful past experiences. This paper proposes a set of Semantic Anti-Patterns for ontology engineering. These anti-patterns capture error prone modeling decisions which can result in the creation of models that allow for unintended model instances (representing undesired state of affairs). The anti-patterns presented here have been empirically elicited through an approach of ontology conceptual models validation via visual simulation.
Overview Research networks are providing their users with dedicated network connections. Users want these connects to go through different domains, so the research net-works are challenged to find valid network connections through multiple do-mains. The challenge arises if the different network domains use different technolo-gies, and we have a multi-layer path finding problem. We will show that there are situations where algorithms as used in single layer networks, such as BGP, SS7 and OSPF-TE, can not find the shortest path, because they can not deal with the complexity of multi-layer networks. To solve this problem, both a multi-layer network representation as well as new path finding algorithms need to be developed. An additional challenge is to make a generic path finding algorithm that is technology-independent, and does not need to be modified as new technologies emerge. We show that it possible to create solutions for all three problems. Using RDF-based techniques, we model multi-layer networks and describe incompati-bilities for the path finding algorithm in technology-independent way. We also present a path finding algorithm that is able to use this information to find valid paths.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in approaches that employ ontological models as theoretical tools for analyzing
and improving conceptual modeling languages. In this paper we present a philosophically and cognitively well-founded formal
ontology which has been developed with the special purpose of serving as a foundation for general conceptual modeling languages.
Furthermore, we demonstrate how this foundational ontology named the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO) has been used to
evaluate and redesign the metamodel of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) for the purpose of conceptual modeling.
In a series of publications, we have proposed a foundational system of ontological categories which has been used to evaluate
and improve the quality of conceptual modeling languages and models. In this article, we continue this work by employing theories
from Formal Ontology, Cognitive Psychology and Philosophical Logic to systematically investigate some important modal aspects
of the ontological categories represented in structural conceptual models. In particular, we focus on Object
Types and Part-Whole Relations, formally characterizing some modal properties that motivate the proposal of a number of distinctions within these categories.
In addition, we show how two types of modality known in philosophical logic (de re/de dicto modality) can be used to address some subtle issues that appear in conceptual diagrams when different sorts of object types
and part-whole relations are combined.
In a series of publications, we have employed ontological theories and principles to evaluate and improve the quality of conceptual
modeling grammars and models. In this article, we continue this work by conducting an ontological analysis to investigate
the proper representation of types whose instances are collectives, as well as the representation of a specific part-whole relation involving them, namely, the member-collective relation. As a result, we provide an ontological interpretation for these notions, as well as modeling guidelines for their
sound representation in conceptual modeling.
Keywordsrepresentation of collectives and their members-ontological foundations for conceptual modeling-part-whole relations
Ontologies are commonly used in computer science either as a reference model to support semantic interoperability, or as an
artifact that should be efficiently represented to support tractable automated reasoning. This duality poses a tradeoff between
expressivity and computational tractability that should be addressed in different phases of an ontology engineering process.
The inadequate choice of a modeling language, disregarding the goal of each ontology engineering phase, can lead to serious
problems in the deployment of the resulting model. This article discusses these issues by making use of an industrial case
study in the domain of Oil and Gas. We make explicit the differences between two different representations in this domain,
and highlight a number of concepts and ideas that were implicit in an original OWL-DL model and that became explicit by applying
the methodological directives underlying an ontologically well-founded modeling language.
The ITU-T Recommendation G.805 is a telecommunication standard providing a generic functional architecture for transport networks and serving as the basis for several others networking and management specifications. Due to its fundamental importance, it is essential for this recommendation to be clear, complete and unambiguous, thus eliminating the spread of problems for all its using documents. This article employs an ontology-based systematic evaluation to verify the aforementioned characteristics on the ITU-T G.805 standard current documentation. Moreover, it discusses a number of ontological problems identified by this evaluation. Finally, the article illustrates with fragments of a well-founded reference model for the same domain, how these identified problematic situations can be addressed in a representation artifact.
This paper presents the OOTN - ontology for optical transport networks: a computational ontology proposal for optical transport networks based on the ITU-T G.805 and G.872 recommendations. It shows the most relevant issues found during the modeling process and presents a case study where the classical concepts of VTD and RWA applications have been mapped to OOTN.
Conventions such as iGrid 2005 and SuperComputing show that there is increasing demand for more service options on networks. For such networks, large teams of experts are needed to configure and manage them. In order to make the full potential of hybrid networks available to the ordinary user, the complexity must be reduced.This paper presents the idea of the Network Description Language (NDL), which builds on Semantic Web techniques to create a distributed Topology Knowledge Base (TKB). The TKB can provide a collection of reachability graphs, showing connectivity rules among physical and/or virtual entities.Latching onto the Semantic Web provides network management with a new breed of tools—bots, compilers, browsers, both commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and open source. The approach appears to be applicable to the Global Lambda Integrated Facility (GLIF) as well as other experimental communities.
I revisit here the motivations and the main proposal of paper I published at the 1994 Wittgenstein Symposium, entitled "The Ontological Level", in the light of the main results achieved in the latest 30 years of Knowledge Representation, since the well known "What's in a link?" paper by Bill Woods. I will argue that, despite the explosion of ontologies, many problems are still there, since there is no general agreement about having ontological distinctions built in the representation language, so that assumptions concerning the basic constructs of representation languages remain implicit in the mind of the knowledge engineer, and difficult to express and to share. I will recap the recent results concerning formal ontological distinctions among unary and binary relations, sketching a basic ontology of meta-level categories representation languages should be aware of, and I will discuss the role of such distinctions in the current practice of knowledge engineering.
In philosophy, the term ontology has been used sin ce the 17 th century to refer both to a philosophical discipline (Ontology with a capital " O"), and as a domain-independent system of categori es that can be used in the conceptualization of domain -specific scientific theories. In the past decades there has been a growing interest in the subject of ontology in computer and information sciences. In the last f ew years, this interest has expanded considerably in t he context of the Semantic Web and MDA (Model-Driven Architecture) research efforts, and due to the role ontologies are perceived to play in these initiati ves. In this paper, we explore the relations between Ontology an d ontologies in the philosophical sense with domain ontologies in computer science. Moreover, we elaborate on formal characterizations for the notions of ontology, conceptualization and metamodel, as well as on the relations between these notions. Addition ally, we discuss a set of criteria that a modeling langua ge should meet in order to be considered a suitable language to model phenomena in a given domain, and present a systematic framework for language evaluation and design. Furthermore, we argue for th e importance of ontology in both philosophical sens es aforementioned for designing and evaluating a suita ble general ontology representation language, and w e address the question whether the so-called Ontology Web languages can be considered as suitable genera l ontology representation languages. Finally, we moti vate the need for two complementary classes of modeling languages in Ontology Engineering addressing two separate sets of concerns.
Parthood is a relation of fundamental importance in a number of dis* ciplines including cognitive science, linguistics and conceptual modeling. How* ever, one classical problem for conceptual modeling theories of parthood is de* ciding on the transitivity of these relations. This issue is of great importance since transitivity plays a fundamental role both conceptually (e.g., to afford in* ferences in problem*solving) and computationally (e .g., to afford propagations of properties and events in a transitive chain). In this article we address this problem by presenting a solution to the case of part*whole relations between functional complexes, which are the most common types of entities represented in conceptual models. This solution comes in two parts. Firstly, we present a formal theory founded on results from formal ontology and linguistics. Second* ly, we use this theory to provide a number of visual patterns that can be used to isolate scopes of transitivity in part*whole relati ons represented in diagrams.
In a series of publications, we have employed ontological theories and principles to evaluate and improve the quality of conceptual
modeling grammars and models. In this article, we advance this research program by conducting an ontological analysis to investigate
the proper representation of types whose instances are collectives, as well as the representation of part-whole relations involving them. As a result, we provide an ontological interpretation
for these notions, as well as modeling guidelines for their sound representation in conceptual modeling. Moreover, we present
a precise qualification for the parthood relations of member-collective and subcollective-collective in terms of formal mereological theories of parthood, as well as in terms of the modal meta-properties of essential and inseparable parts.
In recent years, there has a growing interest in the use of Ontologically Well-Founded Conceptual Modeling languages to support the domain analysis phase in Information Systems Engineering. OntoUML is an example of a conceptual modeling language whose metamodel has been designed to comply with the ontological distinctions and axiomatic theories put forth by a theoretically well-grounded Foundational Ontology. However, despite its growing adoption, OntoUML has been deemed to pose a significant complexity to novice modelers. This paper presents a number of theoretical and methodological contributions aimed at assisting these modelers. Firstly, the paper explores a number of design patterns which are derived from the ontological foundations of this language. Secondly, these patterns are then used to derive a number of model construction rule sets. The chained execution of these rule sets assists the modeler in the instantiation of these patterns, i.e., in the use of OntoUML as pattern-language. Thirdly, the article demonstrates how these rule sets can be materialized as a set of methodological guidelines which can be directly implemented in a tool support in the form of an automated dialogue with the novice modeler.
Abstract Data modelling languages are used in today’s information systems engineering environments. Many have a degree of hype surrounding their quality and applicability with narrow and specific justification often given in support of one over another. We want to more deeply understand the fundamental nature of data modelling languages. We thus propose a theory, based on ontology, that should allow us to understand, compare, evaluate, and strengthen data modelling languages. In this paper we present a method (conceptual evaluation) and its extension (conceptual comparison), as part of our theory. Our methods are largely independent of a specific ontology. We introduce Chisholm’s ontology and apply our methods,to analyse some data modelling languages using it. We find a good degree of overlap between all of the data modelling languages analysed and the core concepts of Chisholm’s ontology, and conclude that the data modelling languages investigated reflect an ontology of commonsense-realism.
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is the de facto lan- guage used in the industry for software specifications. Once an application has been specified, Model Driven Architecture (MDA) techniques can be ap- plied to generate code from such specifications. Since implementing a system based on a faulty design requires additional cost and effort, it is important to analyse the UML models at earlier stages of the software development lifecycle. This paper focuses on utilizing MDA techniques to deal with the analysis of UML models and identify design faults within a specification. Specifically, we show how UML models can be automatically transformed into Alloy which, in turn, can be automatically analysed by the Alloy Ana- lyzer. The proposed approach relies on MDA techniques to transform UML models to Alloy. This paper reports on the challenges of the model trans- formation from UML class diagrams and OCL to Alloy. Those issues are caused by fundamental differences in the design philosophy of UML and Alloy. To facilitate better the representation of Alloy concepts in the UML, the paper draws on the lessons learnt and presents a UML profile for Alloy.
An ontological model of information systems, the Bunge–Wand–Weber (BWW) model, is used to analyse and evaluate the Unified Modeling Language (UML) as a language for representing concrete problem domains. As a result, each relevant and major UML construct becomes more precisely defined in terms of the phenomena in and aspects of the problem domain it represents. The analysis and evaluation shows that many of the central UML constructs are well matched with the BWW-model, but also suggests several concrete improvements to the UML-metamodel. New metaclasses are proposed to distinguish between (physically) impossible and (humanly) disallowed events, based on UML-exceptions. New abstract metaclasses are proposed for static and behavioural constraints, behaviours and static behaviours, as well as binding relationships and coupled events. New meta-subclasses of UML-objects, -classes, -typesand -relationshipsare proposed to make the UML more orthogonal, and a new definition is proposed for UML-responsibilities. The analysis also shows that the constructs in the UML must play several roles simultaneously, supporting representation both of the problem domain, of the development artifacts and of the proposed software or information system, while fitting together as a tightly integrated, well-defined language.
In this thesis, we aim at contributing to the theory of conceptual modeling and ontology representation. Our main objective here is to provide ontological foundations for the most fundamental concepts in conceptual modeling. These foundations comprise a number of ontological theories, which are built on established work on philosophical ontology, cognitive psychology, philosophy of language and linguistics. Together these theories amount to a system of categories and formal relations known as a foundational ontology
This paper describes an ontology model (conceptual model) based on the ITU-T Recommendation G.805 for transport network architectures. The goal is to take a step forward to the autonomic applications fortransport network operation and management. Besides the conceptual model description and explanation, including its main elements (classes, properties and constraints), this paper also includes thedescription of the G.805 recommendation main concepts characteristics. Furthermore, the paper elaborates on the advantages of using an ontological model, as well as the technologies used for ontology conceptual modelling and ontology implementation. Finally, this paper presents a case study using a simple OTN unidirectional network, in which automated inferences could be verified. In conclusion, the methodology and reference conceptual model of transport networks presented here constitutes a contribution towards autonomic network applications.
Selecting an appropriate business process modeling technique forms an
important task within the methodological challenges of business process management
and workflow engineering projects. Many of the available techniques have been
developed on the basis of Petri nets, which is a popular modeling technique for
workflow-oriented applications. Despite the popularity of Petri nets, however, a
comprehensive evaluation of this standard notation is still required. Such an evaluation
would afford a deeper understanding of the capabilities and shortcomings of this
fundamental process modeling technique. This paper presents the first contribution
towards a theoretically sound analysis of the representational capabilities of Petri nets.
Based on an established methodology, we conducted a representational analysis of
Petri nets using a representation model based on the Bunge ontology. Through this
work, we identify a number of issues related to the practice of process modeling with
Petri nets in contemporary process management initiatives. Our findings contribute to
the ongoing revision and extension of process modeling techniques based on Petri nets
and as such may lead to more mature solutions to business process modeling and
management.
A clear understanding of functions in biology is a key component in accurate modelling of molecular, cellular and organismal biology. Using the existing biomedical ontologies it has been impossible to capture the complexity of the community's knowledge about biological functions.
We present here a top-level ontological framework for representing knowledge about biological functions. This framework lends greater accuracy, power and expressiveness to biomedical ontologies by providing a means to capture existing functional knowledge in a more formal manner. An initial major application of the ontology of functions is the provision of a principled way in which to curate functional knowledge and annotations in biomedical ontologies. Further potential applications include the facilitation of ontology interoperability and automated reasoning. A major advantage of the proposed implementation is that it is an extension to existing biomedical ontologies, and can be applied without substantial changes to these domain ontologies.
The Ontology of Functions (OF) can be downloaded in OWL format from http://onto.eva.mpg.de/. Additionally, a UML profile and supplementary information and guides for using the OF can be accessed from the same website.
Enterprise systems interoperability (ESI) is an important topic for business currently. This situation is evidenced, at least in part, by the number and extent of potential candidate protocols for such process interoperation, viz., ebXML, BPML, BPEL, and WSCI. Wide-ranging support for each of these candidate standards already exists. However, despite broad acceptance, a sound theoretical evaluation of these approaches has not yet been provided. We use the Bunge-Wand-Weber (BWW) models, in particular, the representation model, to provide the basis for such a theoretical evaluation. We, and other researchers, have shown the usefulness of the representation model for analyzing, evaluating, and engineering techniques in the areas of traditional and structured systems analysis, object-oriented modeling, and process modeling. In this work, we address the question, what are the potential semantic weaknesses of using ebXML alone for process interoperation between enterprise systems? We find that users lack important implementation information because of representational deficiencies; due to ontological redundancy, the complexity of the specification is unnecessarily increased; and, users of the specification have to bring in extra-model knowledge to understand constructs in the specification due to instances of ontological excess.
This book presents the use of one notation in the accumulation of available mathematical techniques to help ensure the correctness of computer-based systems, namely the Z notation (pronounced `zed'), intended for the specification of such systems. The formal notation Z is based on set theory and predicate calculus, and has been developed at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory since the late 1970's. The use of a formal notation early on in the design process helps to remove many errors that would not otherwise be discovered until a later stage. The book includes specification of a number of digital systems in a variety of areas to help demonstrate the scope of the notation. Most of the specifications are of real systems that have been built, either commercially or experimentally. It is hoped that the variety of examples in this book will encourage more developers to attempt to specify their systems in a more formal manner before they attempt the development or programming stage.
Within the information systems field, reference models have been known for many years. A reference model is a conceptual framework and may be used as a blueprint for information systems development. Despite the relevance of reference model quality, little research has been undertaken on their systematical analysis and evaluation. In this chapter, we describe how reference models can be analyzed from an ontological point of view. Such an analysis consists of four steps: 1) developing a transformation mapping, 2) identifying ontological modeling deficiencies, 3) transforming the reference model, and 4) assessing the results. The usefulness of our method will be demonstrated by analyzing Scheer's reference model for production planning and control. Although our approach is based on sound theory, we argue that this approach is not inherently superior to other approaches of reference model analysis and evaluation.
We propose a formal model of layered telecommunication networks. The model includes ports, which are access points to data streams; links, which transmit data streams; and adapters, which convert data streams from one layer to another. Two ports communicate if there is a path from one to the other in which every adaptation is balanced by a reverse adaptation. Two networks M and N with the same public ports are equivalent if for any other network Q, two ports in the composition M⊙Q communicate exactly if they communicate in N⊙Q. M generalizes N if whenever two ports communicate in N⊙Q, the ports also communicate in M⊙Q. We give linear time algorithms to decide equivalence and generalization of networks when adaptation is "simple", i.e. one or more data streams can be adapted into only a single data stream. If adaptation models "protection switching," then testing equivalence is co-NP-complete.
In our past work, we have shown that a number of theories from conceptual modeling and ontological analysis can be used to clarify the definitions of role-related and goal-related concepts in the RM-ODP [1,2]. This paper builds up on our earlier efforts by providing an ontology-based account for the notion of communities in the reference model's Enterprise Language [38]. We address issues regarding the composition of communities, the filling of roles in communities, the decomposition of a community's objective into sub-objectives (delegated to community members). The use of an ontology that deals with aspects of social reality and intentionality [30] plays an important role in this account, revealing the intentionality of communities and enterprise objects; the social relations between communities and enterprise objects in the community; the social relations between objects in the community; the social relations between communities; the normative character of a community's contract, etc. The analysis allows us to propose well-founded recommendations for clarifications and identify potential amendments to the standard as well as issues for further investigation.
Information systems analysis and design (ISAD) methodologies provide facilities for describing existing or conceived real-world systems. These facilities are ontologically expressive if they are capable of describing all real-world phenomena completely and clearly. In this paper we formally examine the notion of the ontological expressiveness of a grammar and discuss some of its implications for the design and use of ISAD methodologies. We identify some generic ways in which ontological expressiveness may be undermined in a grammar and some potential consequences of these violations. We also examine ontological expressiveness within the context of some other desirable features that might be considered in the design of ISAD methodologies.
Research on ontology is becoming increasingly widespread in the computer science community, and its importance is being recognized in a multiplicity of research fields and application areas, including knowledge engineering, database design and integration, information retrieval and extraction. We shall use the generic term "information systems", in its broadest sense, to collectively refer to these application perspectives. We argue in this paper that so-called ontologies present their own methodological and architectural peculiarities: on the methodological side, their main peculiarity is the adoption of a highly interdisciplinary approach, while on the architectural side the most interesting aspect is the centrality of the role they can play in an information system, leading to the perspective of ontology-driven information systems.
Software application ontologies have the potential to become the keystone in state-of-the-art information management techniques. It is expected that these ontologies will support the sort of reasoning power required to navigate large and complex terminologies correctly and efficiently. Yet, there is one problem in particular that continues to stand in our way. As these terminological structures increase in size and complexity, and the drive to integrate them inevitably swells, it is clear that the level of consistency required for such navigation will become correspondingly difficult to maintain. While descriptive semantic representations are certainly a necessary component to any adequate ontology-based system, so long as ontology engineers rely solely on semantic information, without a sound ontological theory informing their modeling decisions, this goal will surely remain out of reach. In this paper we describe how Language and Computing nv (L&C), along with The Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Sciences (IFOMIS), are working towards developing and implementing just such a theory, combining the open software architecture of L&C's LinkSuiteTM with the philosophical rigor of IFOMIS's Basic Formal Ontology. In this way we aim to move beyond the more or less simple controlled vocabularies that have dominated the industry to date.
In recent years, dynamic multi-layer networks have emerged. Unlike regular networks these multi-layer networks allow users and other networks to interface on different technology layers. While path finding on a single layer is currently well understood, path finding on multi-layer networks is far from trivial. Even the constraints (the possible incompatibilities) are not always clear.This paper proposes a model for multi-layer circuit-switched computer networks, based on ITU-T G.805 and GMPLS standards. Furthermore, it defines a simple algebra that can be used to verify the validity of network connections through such networks.The most important contribution of our model and algebra is that they are technology independent: they can describe any circuit-switched network technology without modifications or tuning to the model and algebra. The model and algebra have been implemented in a syntax and network tool, which are briefly discussed.
Due to their accuracy in describing systems, formal specifications can play an important role during forward as well as reverse engineering activities. However, besides dense mathematical expressions, their lack in visually appealing notations impedes their use and exchange among different stakeholders. One solution to this problem is to enrich the specification by other views, in most cases Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagrams. But the mapping is not trivial, and existing approaches have their impediments, among them the assignment of methods to classes—which has to be re-done by hand quite often. By the example of Z, this paper demonstrates that the situation can be improved. The new approach combines existing mapping strategies, but additionally lets the assignment of methods rest on quality-related measures. The basic idea is to balance the values of coupling for all methods within and between the UML classes. With that, two issues are addressed: firstly, the mapping of sets, types, and operations (to UML classes and UML methods) is based on reproducible measures that are intuitively comprehensible. Secondly, implementations based on the resulting UML class diagrams very likely also have comparable quality-related properties.
The description of information systems using formal, mathematical
specifications written in the Z notation, and the refinement of these
specifications into rigorously checked designs are described. The author
introduces the idea of a formal specification using a simple example: a
`birthday book' in which people's birthdays can be recorded, and which
is able to issue reminders on the appropriate day. The behaviour of this
system for correct input is specified; then the schema calculus is used
to strengthen the specification into one requiring error reports for
incorrect input. The idea of data refinement as the primary means of
constructing designs which achieve a formal specification is also
demonstrated
Alloy is a little language for describing structural properties. It offers a declaration syntax compatible with graphical object models, and a set-based formula syntax powerful enough to express complex constraints and yet amenable to a fully automatic semantic analysis. Its meaning is given by translation to an even smaller (formally defined) kernel. This paper presents the language in its entirety, and explains its motivation, contributions and deficiencies.
Improving Web Content Management with Semantic Technologies
- F P Carolo
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F.P. Carolo, L. Burlamaqui, Improving Web Content Management with Semantic
Technologies, in: Semant. Technol. Conf., San Francisco, USA, 2011.
Prying Apart Semantics and Implementation: Generating XML Schemata directly from ontologically sound conceptual models
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B.T. Bauman, Prying Apart Semantics and Implementation: Generating XML
Schemata directly from ontologically sound conceptual models, in: Balisage
Markup Conf. 2009, Balisage Series on Markup Technologies, Montréal, Canada,
2009. doi:10.4242/BalisageVol3.Bauman01.
Análise Arquitetural, Ontológica e Proposta de Modelo de Referência para a Recomendação
- P P F Barcelos
P.P.F. Barcelos, Análise Arquitetural, Ontológica e Proposta de Modelo de
Referência para a Recomendação ITU-T G. 805, Federal University of Espírito
Santo, 2011.
Formal Specification — Z Notation — Syntax , Type and Semantics
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Z Standards Panel, Formal Specification — Z Notation — Syntax, Type and
Semantics, Consensus Working Draft 2.6, 2000.
Ontological Theory for Ontological Engineering: Biomedical Systems Information Integration
- J M Fielding
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- W Ceusters
- B Smith
J.M. Fielding, J. Simon, W. Ceusters, B. Smith, Ontological Theory for
Ontological Engineering: Biomedical Systems Information Integration, in: Ninth
Int. Conf. Princ. Knowl. Represent. Reason. (AMIA 2004), 2004: pp. 114-120.
- G Guizzardi
G. Guizzardi, On Ontology, ontologies, Conceptualizations, Modeling
Languages, and (Meta)Models, Proc. 2007 Conf. Databases Inf. Syst. IV Sel. Pap.
from Seventh Int. Balt. Conf. 155 (2007) 18-39.
- Standards Panel
Z Standards Panel, Formal Specification -Z Notation -Syntax, Type and
Semantics, Consensus Working Draft 2.6, 2000.
- P P F Barcelos
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- A S Garcia
P.P.F. Barcelos, R.S.S. Guizzardi, A.S. Garcia, An Ontology Reference Model
for Normative Acts, in: M.P. Bax, M.B. Almeida, R. Wassermann (Eds.),
Ontobras, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2013: pp. 35-46.