Solution Workflows for Model-Based Analysis of Complex Systems

This paper focuses on workflows supporting the solution of complex, composed models used to study real world systems. The workflows we deal with orchestrate multiple distributed tools and applications in order to provide the user with a powerful, composed solution environment. The objective is to automate and reproduce analysis and simulation tasks starting from an high level, graph-based description of the model to be solved. Within our context the workflow management has to meet particular requirements induced by the nature of the main data involved (models, queries on models and results). The paper presents the Solution Process Defininition Language (SPDL) for the specification of solution worklows and then focuses on the problem of automating the generation of SPDL specifications. One of the key elements of SPDL is its formal semantics, that allows the validation of the workflows. A workflow pattern analysis of SPDL is also provided. SPDL and its execution environment, the OsMoSys framework, are then applied to a homeland security scenario.