Platform ontologies for the model-driven architecture

Software systems not only continue to grow more complex, but they are often required to run on multiple platforms as well. Common personal computer platforms are Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple Mac OS X on a PowerPC or x86 hardware architecture. Hand-held devices present another range of platforms, such as Microsoft Windows Mobile, Qtopia/Embedix and Symbian running on an ARM or RISC hardware architecture. Each of these platforms look different from a software developer’s point of view and requires the development of different software versions for each platform. This platform diversity makes it increasingly difficult to maintain software that is portable to multiple platforms. Software developers not only have to develop multiple software versions, but they also have to keep these versions synchronised and consistent in their common functionality. In addition to this, platform technologies tend to evolve. When developing software for an evolving platform, software developers have to take into account that the users may use older versions of the platform. Developers may be confronted with the fact that their software is no longer compatible with an older version of the platform, because they do all their development and testing on the latest version of the platform. If the current range of platforms can already be considered diverse, the vision of Ambient Intelligence only amplifies this diversity. Ambient Intelligence aims for a user-driven, service-based computing environment that includes personal devices as well as special-purpose embedded devices in the environment. The hardware and software combinations in such devices can vary widely. The Object Management Group has acknowledged the problem of platform diversity by introducing the Model Driven Architecture (MDA). The MDA is centred around the use of software models. The software models provide a means to create partial, platform-independent software specifications that make use of platform abstractions. These abstractions are refined to platformspecific software models in a later stage of the development life cycle, using