Significant economic and technical benefits accrue from the use of pre-existing and commercially available software components to develop new systems. However, variable component quality, combined with hidden component behavior, has forced system developers to rely on extensive prototyping just to establish the feasibility of using a component in a particular assembly. Predictability is difficult to attain. Many of the benefits of software component technology evaporate in the presence of high design uncertainty and low consumer trust in components.
Assembly: Systems can be assembled from components, which could come from third parties, in a way that preserves predictions. Certifiable: The properties of components are trusted and provide a basis for trust in component and system predictions. Components: The components have interfaces that fully describe their externally visible properties. |
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Purpose
The Predictable Assembly from Certifiable Components (PACC) project, which began as an independent research and development project in FY2002 (see the section titled Independent Research & Development), was begun to determine whether, and how, the twin objectives of design predictability and component trust could be achieved. A software development activity is predictable if the runtime behavior of an assembly of components can be predicted from the known properties of components and if these predictions can be objectively validated. A component is certifiable if these known properties can be ascertained and validated by independent third parties.
In 2003, the SEI will provide seminal technology to certify software components for predictable assembly and to open up a new world of trusted software components. This will be accomplished by ensuring that the builders of systems can select software components on the basis of their predicted runtime behavior within specific assemblies.
The SEI’s approach to PACC rests on prediction-enabled
component technology (PECT). At the highest level, PECT is a scheme
for systematic and repeatable integration of software-component technology,
software-architecture technology, and design analysis and verification
technology. The results of this integration are engineering methods
and a supporting technical infrastructure that together enable PACC.
Software
and electronics are two critical areas that require increased attention
from Congress and the DoD, former Congressman Dave McCurdy said in testimony
before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Procurement.
McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Alliance, made the case
for "a new paradigm for software engineering that moves engineering
analysis to the forefront," and cited SEI technical work: "There
is already very interesting and important work going on in this regard,
known as Predictable Assembly from Certifiable Components. These efforts
need greater attention and support from government and commercial
buyers
alike." A well-respected industry voice, McCurdy stressed the need
for more research to improve the practice of software engineering.