Integrating specifications: A similarity reasoning approach

Requirements analysis usually results in a set of different specifications for the same system, which must be integrated. Integration involves the detection and elimination of discrepancies between them. Discrepancies may be due to differences in representation models, modeling perspectives or practices. As instances of the semantic heterogeneity problem (Gangopadhyay and Barsalou, 1991), discrepancies are broader than logical inconsistencies, and therefore not always detectable using theorem proving. This paper proposes an approach to their detection using meta-modeling and similarity analysis. Specification components are classified under a meta-model of domain independent semantic modeling abstractions and thereby compared according to a newly developed model of similarity. Similarity analysis results in an isomorphic mapping between them, which can be used as a basis for reconciling and merging them. The approach is extensible in the sense that it accommodates different models for representing specifications, and analysis scales up to manage large, complex specification because the complexity of similarity analysis is polynomial.

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