Finished Research Projects where I was involved in

MoVES - Modelling, Verification and Evolution of Software
(IAP project, 01/01/2007-31/12/2011) in cooperation with VUB, UA, FUNDP, UCL, ULB, ULg (Belgium), Universite de Lille LIFL (France), T.U.Delft (The Netherlands)

Software-intensive systems are among the most complex artefacts ever built. In the development of such systems, the use of rigorous models and analysis methods is essential to make sure that the software satisfies its requirements and exhibits the desired properties (e.g., safety, security, reliability, consistency). At the same time, in order to adapt to the constantly changing requirements and technology, these systems must be able to evolve over time, without breaking their essential properties.
This project combines the leading Belgian research teams in software engineering, with recognised scientific excellence in model-driven engineering (MDE), software evolution, formal modelling and verification (FMV) and aspect-oriented software development (AOSD). The project aims to advance the state of the art in each of these domains. The long term objective of our network is to strengthen existing collaborations and forge new links between those teams, and to leverage and disseminate our research expertise in this domain at a European level.

EVOLVE - Evolutionary Validation, Verification and Certification
(EUREKA-ITEA2 project, 01/04/2008-30/09/2011) in cooperation with Barco (Belgium), Melexis (Belgium), Open License Society (Belgium), Triphase (Belgium), Critical Software (Portugal), DS2 (Spain), EB (Finland), Tecnalia-ESI (Spain), FUDECO (Finland), I3B (Spain), I3B (Spain), Ibermatica (Spain), Mondragon University MGEP (Spain), Nokia (Finland), Nokia Siemens Networks (Finland), Ingeteam (Spain), Universidad de Cantabria (Spain), VTT (Finland)

Reliable, accurate, fast and low-cost validation and verification of products is one of the corner stones of the modern high-tech industry. However, many software organizations clearly lack efficient verification and validation technologies that would support rapid, high quality software development in a volatile business environment. The goal of this project is to create a methodological framework for early verification and validation of evolutionary products through the accredited/certified integration of each iteration and/or component in a MDE (Model Driven Engineering) context. EVOLVE will provide an iterative and incremental methodology, and it is oriented by the agile and model driven development paradigms, fostering accredited/certified component reusability in a broad sense. The target domain is the construction of software for real time embedded systems, which may be subject to legal certification or internal company accreditation. Attention is focused on validation of both functional and non-functional properties, from requirements evaluation of an early architecture design to final customer acceptance.

NextGenITS - Next Generation Intelligent Traffic Services
(IBBT-GBO project, 01/05/2008-30/04/2010) in cooperation with Alcatel-Lucent, Be-Mobile, Group4Securicor, ITS Belgium, Mobistar, Nimera, NXP, Proximus, Siemens, Tele Atlas, Touring, Vlaams Verkeercentrum, VRT MediaLab, IMEC, IBBT-COSIC-KU Leuven, IBBT-CUO-KU Leuven, IBBT-ICRI-KU Leuven, IBBT-IBCN-UGent,IBBT-IDM-UGent, IBBT-PATS-UA, IBBT-SMIT-VUB (Belgium).

This project proposal reflects the intention of some of the most prominent players in the Belgian ICT sector to cooperate with research institutes and governments to develop and demonstrate a number of ITS services (ITS: Intelligent Transport Services).
The following services will be demonstrated: e-call, traffic information, intelligent speed adaptation, road charging and cooperative vehicle systems. These services which have either or both a big social and commercial potential will be demonstrated as a preparation for market introduction through public-private partnerships.
The different applications will be based on European standards to ensure interoperability between different market players and across geographical borders. Furthermore specific research will be done related to the integration of the different applications on a generic multi-application platform. The project collaborates with other regional and national initiatives within the framework of a European FP7 project proposal.
Besides being a tool to accelerate the introduction of next-generation ITS services to ensure sustainable mobility in Flanders and to reach ambitious safety and environmental targets, this project also will work as an enabler preparing the industry for the European and global ITS market which is generally expected to grow exponentially between 2010 and 2015.

MDE - Formal Support for the Transformation of Software Models
(FWO project, 01/01/2005-31/12/2009) in cooperation with K.U.Leuven SOM, UA FOTS & LORE (Belgium)

A typical characteristic of the software lifecycle is a gradual evolution from abstract, declarative models to concrete, computational ones. One of the major problems in the development of software systems is a lack of adequate support for evolution, i.e. evolution throughout the lifecycle as well as evolution in time. Consecutive models are hardly related, so that in practice various phases of the development cycle are only marginally or not at all worked out. Moreover, a modification of a software system often requires manual changes to all of the models in the consecutive phases. Therefore, in practice, modifications are often carried through only at the lowest levels and not documented properly. This results in so-called legacy systems, that embody complex functionality, but have lost their overall structure, making it impossible to maintain them in a cost-efficient way. This FWO project aims to deliver formalisms, models and tool prototypes for managing software evolution in the vertical (lifecycle) and horizontal (time) dimension.

SPICES - Support for Predictable Integration of mission Critical Embedded Systems
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/09/2006-30/11/2009) in cooperation with Barco Avionics (Belgium), Airbus (France) Axlog Ingénierie (France) CEA-List (France) CETIC (Belgium), FéRIA (France), SQS (Spain), TCP/SI (Spain), THALES Avionics & Communications (France), Universidad de Cantabria (Spain), Université de Bretagne-Sud LESTER (France), Verimag (France)

The general goal of the project is to propose a 'reconciled' aproach, by means of new methods and tools to derive from extended AADL descriptions, component-based predictable implementations of mission-critical embedded systems associated with certification issues. We will extend this ADL (architecture description language) to support specific non-functional real-time embedded constraints and to provide run-time execution capabilities.

ARTIST2
(EU FP6 Network of Excellence - Affiliated Partner, 01/09/2004-30/09/2008)

The strategic objective of the ARTIST2 Network of Excellence is to strengthen European research in Embedded Systems Design, and promote the emergence of this new multi-disciplinary area. Operationally, this is achieved by integrating the teams, and buiding excellence. We gather together the best European teams from the composing disciplines, and will work to forge a scientific community. Integration will be achieved around a Joint Programme of Activities, aiming to create critical mass from the selected European teams.

LOMS - Local Mobile Services
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/08/2005-30/06/2008) in cooperation with Siemens (Belgium), Concentra Media (Belgium), European Software Institute (Spain), Fraunhofer IAO (Germany), Ibermatica (Spain), Infoman (Germany) ORGA Systems (Germany), Rostock University (Germany), Siemens Business Services C-LAB (Germany), TU Berlin DAI-Labor (Germany), University of Paderborn (Germany) and YellowMap (Germany)

The goal of the LOMS project (EUREKA-ITEA) is to define and develop an open service architecture where new innovative local mobile services can easily be created, deployed and consumed by mobile users. The aim is to lower the threshold for SME's and non-professional users to set up their own mobile services and allow charging from the content or service provisioning in business-to-consumer or business-to-business scenarios. The access to the open service architecture will be realised in a multi-access network environment, e.g., over cellular (2.5G, 3G), WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and WPAN.

FlexSys - Flexible Traffic Management System
(IBBT-GBO project, 01/09/2006-31/03/2008) in cooperation with Icoms Communications, TC-Matix, Telematics Cluster, Touring, Traficon, Transport & Mobility Leuven, Tritel, Van den Berg, Vialis, IBBT-ICRI-KU Leuven, and IBBT-ETRO-VUB (Belgium),

Met FLEXSYS wensen een aantal representatieve bedrijven en onderzoeksgroepen een oplossing te zoeken voor een van de grote paradigmas uit het verkeerswezen: terwijl de verkeerssituatie steeds Wijzigt, blijft de verkeersinfrastructuur grotendeels een statisch gegeven. Dit komt de verkeersveiligheid en het rijcomfort niet ten goede. Met voorliggend project willen we de verkeersbeheersystemen aanpassen aan de steeds wijzigende omstandigheden op onze wegen: wegenwerken, omleidingen, evacuaties. Hiertoe dienen we belangrijke innovatieve ingrepen te doen in de verschillende schakels waaruit verkeersbeheerssystemen kunnen bestaan: detectie, netwerk & communicatie, gegevensverwerking en signalisatie.

MARTES - Model-based Approach to Real-Time Embedded Systems development
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/01/2005-31/12/2007) in cooperation with Barco Avionics & Command and Control (Belgium), CoFluent Design (France), ECSI (France), GMV (Spain), INRIA (France), Lund University (Sweden), Nokia (Finland), NXP (The Netherlands), Softeam (France), Sweco PIC (Finland), Tampere University of Technology (Finland), Telefonica (Spain), Telelogic (Sweden), THALES Communications & Research and Development (France), Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain), Universidad de Cantabria (Spain) and VTT (Finland)

The aim of the MARTES project is the following: The definition, construction, experimentation, validation and deployment of a new model-based methodology and an interoperable toolset for Real-Time Embedded Systems development, and the application of these concepts to create a development and validation platform for the domain of data stream dominant applications on embedded heterogeneous platforms architectures.

CoDAMoS - Context-Driven Adaptation for Mobile Services
(IWT-SBO project, 01/10/2003-30/09/2007) in cooperation with VUB PROG & SSEL (Belgium), UGent ELIS/PARIS (Belgium) and UHasselt EDM (Belgium)

CoDAMoS is a strategic basic research project aimed at solving a set of key challenges in the area of Ambient Intelligence (AmI), where personal devices will form an extension of each user's environment, running mobile services adapted to the user and his context. The scientific and technological goal of the CoDAMoS project is to research and develop innovative and generic software methods and techniques that will support context-driven adaptation of mobile services. Adaptation is viewed both from the service provider side, i.e. software should be targeted towards a specific context before delivery, and from the service-use side, i.e. software adapts to a changing context after delivery. Both viewpoints are important and complementary. The first view allows services to be designed in a generic way, following which functional variations of them can be generated for a range of platforms. The second view allows services to be generic so that they can adapt to context elements such as other services and resources available in their context.
DistriNet focuses on configuration, reconfiguration and adaptation based on context-information, with special attention to available resources (memory, bandwidth, etc.).

EROOS
(Internal research project of the Software Development Methodolody (SOM) research group, 01/09/1989-14/05/2007)

EROOS is an Object Oriented Software Development Method focussed on Model-driven Architecture (MDA) from a rigorous domain model towards the final implementation. It includes a strategy and notation for Analysis, Design and Implementation. Mechanisms are described to migrate from an analysis model over a design model to an implementation in any programming language. The strategy and the notation are closely entwined, as it is one of the prime goals to go beyond simply presenting models. We consider it highly important to give developers guidelines, explicitly embedded in the method, to distinguish between good and bad models. All analysis (domain model) specifications are declarative from the beginning, making it possible to postpone implementation decisions to the most appropriate time.

AGILE - Agile Software Development of Embedded Systems
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/04/2004-31/03/2007) in cooperation with Barco Avionics (Belgium), E2S (Belgium), Engisud (Italy), ESI (Spain), Exoftware (Ireland), Fagor Automation (Spain), FICOSA (Spain), Free Univ. of Bolzano-Bozen (Italy), F-Secure (Finland), Hantro (Finland), Kapion (Slovenia), Medius (Slovenia), Nemetschek (Bulgaria), Nokia (Finland), Océ PLT (France), P4Q (Spain), Philips (The Netherlands), SQS (Spain) and VTT (Finland)

The aim of this project is to accelerate the development of software-intensive systems including first-of-a-kind and product line systems, balance between time-to-market and development costs, and to become more responsive to changes in the embedded software development. This can be achieved by applying Agile software development concepts (methods, techniques, tools, practices) in the domain of embedded systems. The general goals for the project are to develop an Agile software development framework for the embedded systems domain conform to the existing standards, develop a deployment model to enable the use of the Agile software development framework, to demonstrate the operational feasibility of the developed framework, deployment model and tools, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Agile approach by means of measurement data.

EMC2: Egemin Modular Controls Concept: development of a model-driven software structure for autonomous multi-agent-based machine control
(IWT O&O-project, 01/03/2004-31/08/2006) in cooperation with EGEMIN (Belgium)

The EMC2 project investigates the applicability of two research directions, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) to an industrial application in the domain of warehouse automation. Software engineering in this domain is becoming increasingly complicated due to several factors. Firstly, the control software for the vehicles (automated guided vehicles, cranes, conveyor belts,...) must deal with evolving hardware, different vendors and general software evolution. Secondly, in order to achieve a working integrated solution, obviously different machines have to cooperate. The control software on this level also faces increasing demands: solutions must be scalable, flexible and adaptive.
MDA is a software engineering approach that uses a formal model to design the system. The model represents stable domain knowledge and is platfom independent. To obtain executable code, transformations are applied that translate the model to target a specific execution platform (e.g. .NET, J2EE,...). MDA should induce a productivity boost in software development because of the higher level of abstraction, the clear seperation between analysis and design, and the wider possibilities of component reuse. In this actual case MDA can be used to improve two aspects. Building precise models will smoothen the transition to future platforms. It can also increase the modularity of the system, making it more easy to swiftly introduce new functionality (e.g. new AGV sensors or navigation systems).
Research in multi-agent systems (MAS) investigates software systems consisting of many decentralized entities, called agents, that cooperatively solve a problem. Currently, the problem of controlling the complete system (consisting of many different machines, such as AGVs, cranes, etc) is solved by using a centralized solution: one server knows and controls all the entities in the system. The aim of the project is to tackle the problem in a decentralized fashion, and give more autonomy to the individual entities in the system. This eliminates a central bottleneck, and improves the overall scalability and flexibility. This project investigates the applicability of two research directions, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) to an industrial application in the domain of warehouse automation. Software engineering in this domain is becoming increasingly complicated due to several factors. Firstly, the control software for the vehicles (automated guided vehicles, cranes, conveyor belts,...) must deal with evolving hardware, different vendors and general software evolution. Secondly, in order to achieve a working integrated solution, obviously different machines have to cooperate. The control software on this level also faces increasing demands: solutions must be scalable, flexible and adaptive.
MDA is a software engineering approach that uses a formal model to design the system. The model represents stable domain knowledge and is platfom independent. To obtain executable code, transformations are applied that translate the model to target a specific execution platform (e.g. .NET, J2EE,...). MDA should induce a productivity boost in software development because of the higher level of abstraction, the clear seperation between analysis and design, and the wider possibilities of component reuse.

DigiNews - News for mobile e-paper terminals
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/02/2004-30/06/2006) in cooperation with Philips Applied Technologies (Belgium), Concentra Media (Belgium), dZine (Belgium), BBC Research and Development (England), Fraunhofer FIRST (Germany), Halmstad University (Sweden), Ibermática (Spain), KTH (Sweden), LeMonde (France) Robotiker (Spain), Telegraaf (The Netherlands) TU -The Swedish Newspaper Publishers Association (Sweden)

DigiNews aims to define, architect and demonstrate a global publisher-to-reader solution for the digital newspaper, while maximising the chances of success of its later introduction into the marketplace. The activities to be completed are defined according to an "analyse/specify/architect and demonstrate" process. In the first work package the project will establish the system requirements starting from three different points-of-view: The user point-of-view - using scenarios that help to understand the perspective of the reader, the publishers and the advertiser will be instrumental in increasing the understanding the requirements of the various users of the newspaper system. The business point-of-view - the solution provided should be flexible and should enable the implementation of most identified business models. New business opportunities will be required. The technology point-of-view - pragmatism is the keyword here. In order to limit the initial investment, the digital newspaper system should be built on the current distribution infrastructure for digital information (such as DAB, DVB), on current trends in data representation (such as XML, MPEG7). The analysis of the state-of-the-art of all technologies related to the future digital newspaper infrastructure, from publisher-to-reader, is hence fundamental. This multidimensional approach should favour the wide acceptance of the proposed digital newspaper system by its various stakeholders. In following work packages DigiNews will analyse the requirements of the various subsystems (contents representation, security, personalisation, billing) and translate them into an architecture for a basic digital newspaper to act as a replacement of the current newspaper. The project will also analyse the requirements for some extended services of the digital newspaper (such as user profiling, location-based services); these services should improve the user experience. In these work packages DigiNews will validate critical concepts and specify the demonstrators. Finally, in the last work package DigiNews will implement some demonstrators to be used as vehicle for proof-of-concept as well as for evaluation.

E'PIA - EGEMIN Platform for Integrated Automation
(IWT O&O-project, 01/10/2002-30/09/2005) in cooperation with EGEMIN (Belgium)

Het EPIA project beoogt de ontwikkeling van een open project ontwikkelingsplatform voor industry applications die gericht zijn op de "MES" (Manufacturing Execution Systems) laag van de automatisering. Hierbij wil het platform oplossingen aanbieden voor de technologische problemen die zich momenteel stellen bij automatiseringsprojecten ( complexiteit, integratie, doorlooptijd, veranderende omgeving). Het doel van het ontwikkelingsplatform is een ondersteunende engineering-studio en universeel framework uit te bouwen die toelaten dat een software project ingenieur zijn project kan bouwen door gebruik te maken van gestandaardiseerde tools en met behulp van een beschikbare component repository met generieke services en interfaces.
De kernpunten hierbij zijn de ondersteuning voor incrementele softwareontwikkeling, hergebruik van software componenten, ondersteuning voor integratie met onafhankelijk ontwikkelde componenten, multi-platform draagbaarheid, een scaleerbare verdeel-en-heers architectuur en dynamische aanpasbaarheid van de ontwikkelde systemen.

EMPRESS - Evolution Management and Process for Real-Time Embedded Software Systems
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/01/2002-31/12/2003) in cooperation with Barco Avionics (Belgium), Jabil Circuit (Belgium), Bosch Security Systems (The Netherlands), CEA LIST (France), CEFRIEL (Italy), CiaoLab Technologies (Italy), DaimlerChrysler (Germany), ESI (Spain), Fraunhofer FIRST (Germany), Fraunhofer IESE (Germany), Hood (Germany), MSI (Spain), Siemens C-LAB (Germany), THALES (France), TU Eindhoven (The Netherlands), TU Muenchen (Germany), TXT e-Solutions (Italy), UNIS (Czech Republic), Universität Magdeburg (Germany) and Validas (Germany)

The EMPRESS project deals with management of evolution for embedded system development. The goal of the EMPRESS project is to develop a methodology and process for real-time embedded software development that supports management of evolution in a flexible and dynamic way. Evolution is hereby considered in a broad sense: evolution of requirements, systems and system families, system architectures, individual components, resource constraints (timing & memory requirements) and underlying hardware. To reach this goal, an adaptable component-based architecture and enabling stable infrastructure will be developed, providing support for evolution at both development time as well as run-time. This new EMPRESS architecture and infrastructure will lead to support for controlled evolution of the system architecture and design, adaptable systems that can deal with dynamic reconfiguration (i.e. at run-time), faster system development by adapting and extending existing systems in order to reduce time-to-market, and easier development and lifetime support of product families with different degrees of functionality and/or hardware.

SEESCOA - Software Engineering for Embedded Systems using a Component Oriented Approach
(IWT-STWW project, 01/10/1999-30/09/2003) in cooperation with VUB PROG & SSEL, UGent ELIS/PARIS and UHasselt EDM (Belgium)

The main objective of the SEESCOA project is to adapt the software engineering technology that was developed the last decade for mainstream software to the needs of embedded software. The embedded systems that are proposed in this project will be made up of components. This will make it possible to compose a product with a limited kernel, a minimal number of system components and several application components, including user interface components. Such a composition is made-to-measure for every product, but it should not be necessary to rewrite all components each time. The objective is to make reuse of components in different compositions possible. The components should be applicable in a broad range of situations and have a generic character. Important is the quality and the reliability of the components: these should be robust, predictable, performant and inspectable. To achieve this objective SEESCOA will develop an innovative method for component-based software engineering, backed up by a formalism for modeling components and by a generic component architecture, all tailored to the needs of embedded systems. Two other fields of application development are integrated in the component oriented-approach: the building of user interfaces for embedded systems and the debugging of embedded systems. The objectives include innovative look-and-feel interfaces, a component-oriented approach for user interface realization, a debug-interface for components and a debugger component making use of this interface. In several of these domains suitable tools will be studied.

DESS - software Development process for real-time Embedded Software Systems
(EUREKA-ITEA project, 01/09/1999-31/12/2001) in cooperation with Barco Avionics, CEFRIEL (Italy), CiaoLab Technologies (Italy), DaimlerChrysler (Germany), Esterel Technologies (France), France Télécom (France), Fraunhofer FIRST (Germany), INRIA Rennes (France), INRIA Sophia Antipolis (France), Philips Semiconductors (The Netherlands), Siemens C-LAB (Germany), THALES (France), THOMSON multimedia (France), TU Eindhoven (The Netherlands), TXT e-Solutions (Italy), UNIS (Czech Republic), Universität Magdeburg (Germany) and Universität Paderborn C-LAB (Germany)

The DESS project deals with a software development methodology for real-time and embedded systems. The target is to define a methodology that will improve the development strategy of embedded software. This does not include the development of full-fledged tools, nor does it turn the validation test cases into directly exploitable products. During the project, a development methodology is defined together with supporting tools and usefulness will be validated through a number of validation test cases in different real-time and embedded domains. In addition, all partners have evaluation documents on how the 5B methodology is suited in their application domain.

EWACS - A Software Architecture for the Ewacs Platform
(Bilateral research project, 01/08/1996-31/07/2000) in cooperation with Acunia (previously known as SmartMove and TakeFive)

In this project, we collaborate with Acunia to develop a so called EWACS module with multiple capabilities for wireless communication. EWACS stands for European Wide Area Communication System. The goal of the EWACS project is to provide a generic telematica platform, as well as communication centers that will market and support a wide range of applications for this platform. Our contribution in this project focuses on the communication and network aspects of the EWACS platform, specifically the communication between between communication centers and cars equipped with an EWACS module. Such a module contains three different communication components (DSRC, ERMES, GPRS), which have to be integrated so that applications running in the communication centers and on the EWACS module can be written for one common Application Programming Interface (API).

DEES - A Development Environment for Embedded Systems
(01/08/1997-31/07/1999) in cooperation with Barco Avionics