On the Use of Orthogonal Context Uncertainty Models in the Engineering of Collaborative Embedded Systems

Collaborative embedded systems operate in highly dynamic and uncertain contexts. For instance, in vehicle platooning, several embedded systems form a collaborating group. Among others, they have to cope with unclear intentions of collaborators, uncertainties caused by imperfect technology, and the inherent indeterminacy in the physical surroundings. Hence, it is crucial to systematically consider and model context uncertainty during the development of these systems. Existing uncertainty modeling approaches mainly focus on one specific artifact type, and do not consider the need for supporting purpose-driven abstractions and corresponding perspectives on a system’s operational context. In this paper, we build upon the SPES XT Context Modeling Framework, which employs three different perspectives, each using a specific diagram type. Based on state-of-the-art concepts related to uncertainty, we investigate the use of capturing uncertainty in separate, orthogonal models, and establish relations to the three different context perspectives. We illustrate our promising results using a vehicle platooning scenario.