UML-based qualification of COTS components

Abstract

There is a dilemma between, on the one hand, easily and straightforwardly acquiring and integrating external, prefabricated, cost-effective, plug & play components and, on the other hand, the strong need for assessing and possibly accepting these components so that their incorporation into in-house products is not the source of any damage. This paper supplies some technical leads based on the concomitant and coherent use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the programming mechanism of reflection. As an illustration, a concrete approach developed with the Component+ project is described. This approach relies on the Built-In Test (BIT) technology that aims to guide COTS component design that facilitates qualification.