Today's telecommunications systems are enhanced by a large and steadily growing number of supplementary services, each of which consists of a set of service features. A situation where a combination of these services behaves differently than expected from the single services' behaviors, is called service interaction. This interaction problem is considered as a major obstacle to the introduction of new services into telecommunications networks. In this contribution, we give a survey of the work carried out in this field during the last decade. After a brief review of classification criteria that exist for feature interactions so far, we use a perspective we call the emergence level view. This perspective pays respect to the fact that the sources for interactions can be of many different kinds, like, e.g., requirement conflicts or resource contentions. It is used to rationalize the impossibility of coping with the problem with one single approach. Afterwards, we present a framework of four different criteria in order to classify the approaches dealing with the problem: The general kind of approach taken, a refinement of the well-known detection, resolution, and prevention categories, serves as the main classification criterion. It is complemented by the method used, the stage during the feature lifecycle where an approach applies, and the system (network) context. The major results of the different approaches are then presented briefly using this classification framework. We finally draw some conclusions on the applicability of this framework and on possible directions of further research in this field.

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IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering

Volume 24 Issue 10, October 1998

Table of Contents

	Introduction to the Special Section
	IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering staff
	Pages: 777-778
	doi>10.1109/TSE.1998.729679
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	First Page of the Article First Page of the Article expand
	The Feature and Service Interaction Problem in Telecommunications Systems: A Survey
	Dirk O. Keck, Paul J. Kuehn
	Pages: 779-796
	doi>10.1109/32.729680
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	Today's telecommunications systems are enhanced by a large and steadily growing number of supplementary services, each of which consists of a set of service features. A situation where a combination of these services behaves differently than expected ... Today's telecommunications systems are enhanced by a large and steadily growing number of supplementary services, each of which consists of a set of service features. A situation where a combination of these services behaves differently than expected from the single services' behaviors, is called service interaction. This interaction problem is considered as a major obstacle to the introduction of new services into telecommunications networks. In this contribution, we give a survey of the work carried out in this field during the last decade. After a brief review of classification criteria that exist for feature interactions so far, we use a perspective we call the emergence level view. This perspective pays respect to the fact that the sources for interactions can be of many different kinds, like, e.g., requirement conflicts or resource contentions. It is used to rationalize the impossibility of coping with the problem with one single approach. Afterwards, we present a framework of four different criteria in order to classify the approaches dealing with the problem: The general kind of approach taken, a refinement of the well-known detection, resolution, and prevention categories, serves as the main classification criterion. It is complemented by the method used, the stage during the feature lifecycle where an approach applies, and the system (network) context. The major results of the different approaches are then presented briefly using this classification framework. We finally draw some conclusions on the applicability of this framework and on possible directions of further research in this field. expand
	A Methodology for Feature Interaction Detection in the AIN 0.1 Framework
	Fuchun Joseph Lin, Hong Liu, Abhrajit Ghosh
	Pages: 797-817
	doi>10.1109/32.729681
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	In this paper, we propose an integrated methodology for specifying AIN and switch-based features and analyzing their interactions in the AIN 0.1 framework. The specification of each individual feature is tied to the AIN call model and requires only minimum ... In this paper, we propose an integrated methodology for specifying AIN and switch-based features and analyzing their interactions in the AIN 0.1 framework. The specification of each individual feature is tied to the AIN call model and requires only minimum amount of information in terms of control and data for interaction analysis. Once a feature is specified, its specification is then validated for consistency with respect to control and data. Interaction analysis is conducted for a set of features based on the sharing of call variables between the SSP and the SCP. With this approach, one can detect the following interactions involving AIN features: 1) side-effects, where a call variable modified by one feature is used by another feature and 2) disabling, where one feature disconnects a call, preventing another feature from execution. We also develop a theory that is based on the computation of sequences of messages exchanged between the SSP and the SCP and their call variable usage. This theory is shown to dramatically reduce the number of cases considered during the analysis. A brief overview of a tool that makes use of this methodology to aid in the task of feature interaction detection is also given. expand
	Learning To Detect and Avoid Run-Time Feature Interactions in Intelligent Networks
	Simon Tsang, Evan H. Magill
	Pages: 818-830
	doi>10.1109/32.729682
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	The Intelligent Network (IN) allows rapid changes in the services provisioned and their functionality. Services may be supplied by different service providers, making it unlikely that all service specifications will be available for examination by any ... The Intelligent Network (IN) allows rapid changes in the services provisioned and their functionality. Services may be supplied by different service providers, making it unlikely that all service specifications will be available for examination by any single agency. Approaches to handle feature interaction problems must be able to operate within these constraints. Work by the authors has produced a generic run-time feature interaction manager (FIM) concept to manage feature interactions in a live network. It monitors features as black-boxes, learns their "correct" behavior and uses this to determine when feature interactions have occurred. This paper describes and compares experiences using three different techniques to realize the proposed approach. These are: states sequence monitoring, artificial neural networks (ANN), and rule-based monitoring which also includes integrated generic resolution approaches. The paper explores the design alternatives with the various techniques, and reports on the results obtained from experimentation. expand
	Distributed Feature Composition: A Virtual Architecture for Telecommunications Services
	Michael Jackson, Pamela Zave
	Pages: 831-847
	doi>10.1109/32.729683
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	Distributed Feature Composition (DFC) is a new technology for feature specification and composition, based on a virtual architecture offering benefits analogous to those of a pipe-and-filter architecture. In the DFC architecture, customer calls are processed ... Distributed Feature Composition (DFC) is a new technology for feature specification and composition, based on a virtual architecture offering benefits analogous to those of a pipe-and-filter architecture. In the DFC architecture, customer calls are processed by dynamically assembled configurations of filter-like components: each component implements an applicable feature, and communicates with its neighbors by featureless internal calls that are connected by the underlying architectural substrate. expand
	Automated Software Synthesis: An Application in Mechanical CAD
	Sanjay Bhansali, Tim J. Hoar
	Pages: 848-862
	doi>10.1109/32.729684
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	Automated program synthesis has not gained widespread acceptance among software practitioners despite considerable efforts by several researchers. We outline some of the difficulties in applying program synthesis for practical problems and argue that ... Automated program synthesis has not gained widespread acceptance among software practitioners despite considerable efforts by several researchers. We outline some of the difficulties in applying program synthesis for practical problems and argue that a careful analysis of the cost vs. benefit tradeoff is essential when considering such an approach. We describe a successful application of automated program generation for synthesizing geometric constraint satisfaction routines in the domain of mechanical CAD. We present a general framework for modeling and solving the problem, illustrate the framework using examples from the geometric constraint satisfaction domain, and describe experimental results on productivity increase using this approach. We also discuss characteristics of the problem domain and our approach that were critical for success. expand
	Automatic Support for Usability Evaluation
	Andreas Lecerof, Fabio Paternò
	Pages: 863-888
	doi>10.1109/32.729686
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	The main goal of this work is to propose a method to evaluate user interfaces using task models and logs generated from a user test of an application. The method can be incorporated into an automatic tool which gives the designer information useful to ... The main goal of this work is to propose a method to evaluate user interfaces using task models and logs generated from a user test of an application. The method can be incorporated into an automatic tool which gives the designer information useful to evaluate and improve the user interface. These results include an analysis of the tasks which have been accomplished, those which failed and those never tried, user errors and their type, time-related information, task patterns among the accomplished tasks, and the available tasks from the current state of the user session. This information is also useful to an evaluator checking whether the specified usability goals have been accomplished. expand
	"On-the-Fly" Solution Techniques for Stochastic Petri Nets and Extensions
	Daniel D. Deavours, William H. Sanders
	Pages: 889-902
	doi>10.1109/32.729691
	Full text available: Publisher Site
	High-level modeling representations, such as stochastic Petri nets, frequently generate very large state spaces and corresponding state-transition-rate matrices. In this paper, we propose a new steady-state solution approach that avoids explicit storing ... High-level modeling representations, such as stochastic Petri nets, frequently generate very large state spaces and corresponding state-transition-rate matrices. In this paper, we propose a new steady-state solution approach that avoids explicit storing of the matrix in memory. This method does not impose any structural restrictions on the model, uses Gauss-Seidel and variants as the numerical solver, and uses less memory than current state-of-the-art solvers. An implementation of these ideas shows that one can realistically solve very large, general models in relatively little memory. expand