BEST-NG: a new modeler for describing the satellite's database

1. CS – Communication & Systèmes / 1DESIGNER, INTEGRATOR, OPERATOR OF MISSION CRITICAL SYSTEMS uk.c-s.fr
BEST-NG
PRESENTED BY: VINCENT HÉMERY
(ECLIPSE AND MODELING EXPERT)
SPACEOPS 2018

2. CS – Communication & Systèmes / 2DESIGNER, INTEGRATOR, OPERATOR OF MISSION CRITICAL SYSTEMS uk.c-s.fr
BEST-NG
A NEW MODELER FOR DESCRIBING THE SATELLITE’S DATABASE

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AGENDA
Project history
Technical design
Designing the generic model
Mapping the formats
Expressions editor
What’s next?

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PROJECT HISTORY
Project history
 Technical design
 Designing the generic model
 Mapping the formats
 Expressions editor
 What’s next?

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PREDECESSOR: BEST
Beyond EAST
›https://logiciels.cnes.fr/content/best
Maintained for CNES and ESA
XIF format (with possible extensions)
›Monitoring & Control extension
Quite old technologies

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BEST
Modeler
WHAT BEST DOES
Exchanged
data
Space
database
model
conforms to
Additional BEST Tools
Data generation, reading,
post-processing…
work with

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WHAT BEST LOOKS LIKE

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BEST-NG NEEDS
Bigger databases
Functional scope as large as BEST
›XIF and XIF Monitoring & Control
Several formats
›Need to communicate in XIF, XTCE, and CADS
Better conception

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ITERATIVE STEPS
May 2014
Preliminary
study
July 2014
– June 2015
First BEST-NG
implementation
September 2015
– nowadays
BEST-NG as we
know it
EMF or XSD
EMF
Distributed
architecture
Multi-domain
Multi-format
MXIF

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TECHNICAL DESIGN
 Project history
Technical design
 Designing the generic model
 Mapping the formats
 Expressions editor
 What’s next?

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MULTI-DOMAIN ISSUES
Bitstream structure as a tree
›XIF without extension
Space database
›Packets
›Monitoring
›…
Format specific information
Other mission-specific information
›Like XIF extensions

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MULTI-DOMAIN SOLUTION
Classic DSL (Ecore)
›All concepts in 1 Ecore file
›No multi-domain elements
Profile approach
›Base model element
›Domain concepts as Stereotypes
›Stereotypes applied on base element
DSL Profile approach

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UML PROFILES?
OMG standard
UML model not related to domain
›Mapping issues
UML too complex and too rich
›Model pollution
Implementation violates
EMF good practices

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OUR OWN PROFILE SOLUTION!
Base metamodel: KISS
Domain concepts as Profiles
Format-specificities as Profiles
EMF good practices
Patch all you want
By the way… shamelessly mimic UML

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MULTI-FORMAT ISSUES
Different formats
›Different classes
›Different properties
Similar concepts
1 model element: two faces
Complex correspondances
›Different logics

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MULTI-FORMAT SOLUTION
EMF Facet
›https://www.eclipse.org/facet/
Use Facets to map DSL elements
Java-implemented queries

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DEMO

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DESIGNING
THE GENERIC MODEL
 Project history
 Technical design
Designing the generic model
 Mapping the formats
 Expressions editor
 What’s next?

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FORMATS

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PROFILES AND FACETS

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GENERIC MODEL

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PROFILE EDITOR

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PROFILE EDITOR
Provides validation
›Methodology
›Anti-patterns
Useful decorations and actions
Acceleo queries view
Made with Eclipse Sirius

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AND LOTS OF EXPERTISE…
Modeling expertise
Domain expertise
›CNES + Development team
›Numerous meetings
What makes sense in the Generic Model?
What is the best usage?
›E.g. nature & unit on physical type

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MAPPING THE FORMATS
 Project history
 Technical design
 Designing the generic model
Mapping the formats
 Expressions editor
 What’s next?

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FORMATS

27. CS – Communication & Systèmes / 27/ 27
FORMAT MAPPING
DSL Profile
Extend the correct base element
Add Facet
›Applies on generic model
Move derived information to Facet
Get rid of syntactic sugar
… implement import/export particularities

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EXPRESSIONS EDITOR
 Project history
 Technical design
 Designing the generic model
 Mapping the formats
Expressions editor
 What’s next?

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EXPRESSION EDITOR

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EXPRESSION EDITOR
Xtext is great 
Grammar and semantic
Actual model with references

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GRAMMARS AND PROFILES
Grammar inheritance
Weak coupling Profile Grammar
›Use base metamodel classes
›Keywords and grammar IDs
Generic
Expressions
Structured
Data
Expressions
SpaceMC
Expressions

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WHAT’S NEXT?
 Project history
 Technical design
 Designing the generic model
 Mapping the formats
 Expressions editor
What’s next?

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WHAT’S NEXT?
A real HMI
›Minimal HMI effort in the prototype
›JavaFX Eclipse 4 experiments with lazy loading
A better Name
›
Renewing the whole space database
management tools suite
›Based on BEST-NG
›Using Eclipse Modeling technologies

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CONCLUSION
Merge different visions
Represent different domains
Performance
Domain expertise required
Eclipse modeling technologies
Transformation is a tedious task
›But maintenance should be reduced

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CS
22, avenue Galilée -
92350 Le Plessis Robinson – France
Tel.: +33 (0)1 41 28 40 00
uk.c-s.fr
DESIGNER, INTEGRATOR, OPERATOR OF MISSION CRITICAL SYSTEMS uk.c-s.fr
Thanks for listening
Vincent Hémery
Eclipse and Modeling Expert
Space: Payload Data & Applications
5 rue Brindejonc des Moulinais -
31500 Toulouse – France
Tel.: +33 (0) 561 176 310
E-mail: vincent.hemery@c-s.fr