Analysis and visualization of behavioral dependencies among distributed objects based on UML models

The development of Behavioral Dependency Analysis (BDA) techniques and the visualization of such dependencies have been identified as a high priority in industrial Distributed Real-Time Systems (DRTS). BDA determines the extent to which the functionality of one system entity (e.g., an object, a node) is dependent on other entities. Among many uses, a BDA is traditionally used to perform risk analysis and assessment, fault tolerance and redundancy provisions (e.g. multiple instances of a system entity) in DRTS. Traditionally, most BDA techniques are based on source code or execution traces of a system. However, as model driven development is gaining more popularity, there is a need for model-based BDA techniques. To address this need, we propose a set of procedures and measures for the BDA of distributed objects based on behavioral models (UML sequence diagrams). In contrast to the conventional code-based and execution-trace-based BDA techniques, this measure can be used earlier in the software development life cycle, when the UML design model of a system becomes available, to provide engineers with early insights into dependencies among entities in a DRTS (e.g., early risk identification). We also present a dependency visualization model to visualize measured dependencies. Our approach is applied to a case study to show its applicability and potential usefulness in predicting behavioral dependencies based on UML models.