Applying Formal Specifications On Prometheus Methodology

Std. : Qusai NsourSupervisor : Dr. Abdulsalam Arabiat

Presentation for master thesis proposal

Prometheus, the myth:

Sculpture by Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, 1762 (Louvre)

Prometheus, the myth – cont.

• Ancient Greek mythology says that Prometheus claims to have taught humankind the arts of civilization, such as writing, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, and science.

• Ref.: http://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Prometheus/prometheus.html

Multi-Agent System Methodologies

• “One of the most fundamental obstacles to large-scale take-up of agent technology is the lack of mature software development methodologies for agent-based systems.”

• Michael Luck, Peter McBurney, and Chris Preist. Agent technology: Enabling next generation computing: A roadmap for agent-based computing. AgentLink report (2003)

Why Prometheus ?• Prometheus is intended to be a

practical methodology. As such, it aims to be complete: providing everything that is needed to specify and design agent systems.

Prometheus phases:

• specification phase focuses on :• - (i) identifying the system’s interface.• - (ii) determining the system’s goals,

functionalities, and use case scenarios; along with any important shared data.

• The architectural design phase.• The detailed design phase.

Some properties of Prometheus :

• It is detailed:- It provides detailed guidance on how to perform the

various steps that form the process of Prometheus.• It supports the design of agents that are based

on goals and plans.• It covers a range of activities from requir- ements specification through to detailed design.

Formal Specification

• Def.: Formal specification is the specification of a program's properties in a language

defined by a mathematical logic.

Formal Specification

• Facilitate quality assurance via :- verification :are we building the

system right? is possible only with formal techniques

- validation : are we building the right system?

• -Kristofer Johannisson, 2005- Jagdish Gangolly ,2000- http://www.dagstuhl.de/de/programm/kalender/semhp/?semnr=00411

Formal Specification Techniques

• Algebraic approach– The system is specified in terms of its operations and their

relationships

• Model-based approach– The system is specified in terms of a state model that is

constructed using mathematical constructs such as sets and sequences.

– Operations are defined by modifications to the system’s state

Use of formal specification

• Formal specification involves investing more effort in the early phases of software development.• Incompleteness and inconsistencies

can be discovered and resolved.

Algebraic approach

• Library Example, Formalization:• S: the book is in the stacks• R: the book is on reserve• L: the book is on loan• Q: the book is requested

Algebraic approach- cont.

If a book is requested, then it is on the shelf or on reserve

Model-based approach

My work

• Applying Formal Specification on Prometheus Methodology.

• Through a review of modern technologies in converting normal speech to mathematical rules.

• Comparing the resulting technique with the traditional way.

• Evaluating the process.

Key points

• Formal specification techniques are most applicable in the development of critical systems and standards.

• Algebraic techniques are suited to interface specification where the interface is defined as a set of object classes

• Model-based techniques model the system using sets and functions. This simplifies some types of behavioural specification

• End of slides