Flexible and Efficient Reuse of Multi-mode Components for Building Multi-mode Systems

Software component reuse is deemed as an effective technique for managing the growing software complexity of large systems. Software complexity can also be reduced by partitioning the system behavior into different modes. Such a multi-mode system can change behavior by switching between modes under certain circumstances. Integrating component reuse and the multi-mode approach, we have developed the Mode Switch Logic (MSL), a framework dedicated to the development of multi-mode systems composed by reusable multi-mode components, i.e. components which can run in different modes. The mode switch handling of MSL is based on a fully distributed architecture in the sense that a system mode switch is achieved by the joint mode switches of different independently developed components. In this paper, we propose a mode transformation technique as a supplement to MSL for converting the distributed mode switch handling of MSL to a centralized mode switch handling. The goal is to enhance the run-time mode switch efficiency when components are deployed on a single hardware platform and global mode information is available. We demonstrate this technique by an example and reveal its potential industrial value.