Draft Request For Proposal Unified Component Model for Distributed, Real-Time and Embedded Systems

1. mars/2013-02-05 RFP Template: ab/08-08-01
Object Management Group
140 Kendrick Street
Building A Suite 300
Needham, MA 02494
USA
Telephone: +1-781-444-0404
Facsimile: +1-781-444-0320
Draft Request For Proposal
Unified Component Model for Distributed, Real-Time
and Embedded Systems
OMG Document: mars/2013-02-05
Author: Johnny Willemsen, Remedy IT (jwillemsen@remedy.nl)
Letters of Intent due: 1 December 2013
Submissions due: 13 February 2014
Objective of this RFP
The objective of this RFP is to solicit proposals for a new component model
standard targeted for general purpose distributed, real-time and embedded (DRE)
applications. Proposals must address evolutionary improvements and
simplifications to the existing lightweight profile of the OMG CORBA
Component Model (CCM) standard in order to take full advantage of the
Generic Interaction Support (GIS) connector concept. The new standard, termed
the Unified Component Model (UCM) through exploratory work done to date,
shall be messaging middleware agnostic and independent of the OMG CORBA
standard.
For further details see Chapter 6 of this document.
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Goals of OMG
The Object Management Group (OMG) is the world's largest software
consortium with an international membership of vendors, developers, and end
users. Established in 1989, its mission is to help computer users solve enterprise
integration problems by supplying open, vendor-neutral portability,
interoperability and reusability specifications based on Model Driven
Architecture (MDA). MDA defines an approach to IT system specification that
separates the specification of system functionality from the specification of the
implementation of that functionality on a specific technology platform, and
provides a set of guidelines for structuring specifications expressed as models.
OMG has established numerous widely used standards such as OMG IDL[IDL],
CORBA[CORBA], Realtime CORBA [CORBA], GIOP/IIOP[CORBA],
UML[UML], MOF[MOF], XMI[XMI] and CWM[CWM] to name a few
significant ones.
1.2 Organization of this document
The remainder of this document is organized as follows:
Chapter 2 - Architectural Context - background information on OMG’s Model
Driven Architecture.
Chapter 3 - Adoption Process - background information on the OMG
specification adoption process.
Chapter 4 - Instructions for Submitters - explanation of how to make a
submission to this RFP.
Chapter 5 - General Requirements on Proposals - requirements and evaluation
criteria that apply to all proposals submitted to OMG.
Chapter 6 - Specific Requirements on Proposals - problem statement, scope of
proposals sought, requirements and optional features, issues to be discussed,
evaluation criteria, and timetable that apply specifically to this RFP.
Appendix A – References and Glossary Specific to this RFP
Appendix B – General References and Glossary
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1.3 Conventions
The key words "must", "must not", "required", "shall", "shall not", "should",
"should not", "recommended", "may", and "optional" in this document are to
be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
1.4 Contact Information
Questions related to the OMG’s technology adoption process may be directed to
omg-process@omg.org. General questions about this RFP may be sent to
responses@omg.org.
OMG documents (and information about the OMG in general) can be obtained
from the OMG’s web site (http://www.omg.org/). OMG documents may also be
obtained by contacting OMG at documents@omg.org. Templates for RFPs (like
this document) and other standard OMG documents can be found at the OMG
Template Downloads Page at
http://www.omg.org/technology/template_download.htm
2.0 Architectural Context
<RFP writers shall not change this section>
3.0 Adoption Process
<RFP writers shall not change this section>
4.0 Instructions for Submitters
<RFP writers shall not change this section>
5.0 General Requirements on Proposals
<RFP writers shall not change this section>
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6.0 Specific Requirements on Proposals
6.1 Problem Statement
Part 3 of the OMG CORBA standard is the CORBA Component Model (CCM).
CCM specifies a component model based upon IDL and CORBA messaging
middleware as defined in Parts 1 and 2 of the CORBA specification. CCM
includes a large feature set targeted at both information technology (IT)
enterprise architectures and applications, as well as distributed, real-time and
embedded (DRE) operational technology (OT) architectures and applications. In
recent years, application of and extensions to CCM have been confined primarily
to the OT space. For DRE applications, its large integrated feature set and
execution environment footprint can become a burden in resource constrained
domains. This problem is exacerbated for OT applications that use alternative
messaging middleware solutions such as the OMG Data Distribution Service
(DDS), either supplemental to or in place of CORBA.
CCM has been extended initially through standards like Quality of Service for
CCM (QoS4CCM) which extend the API of the CCM standard.
In order to fit better into a DRE environment the CCM specification has been
extended with a Lightweight CCM (LwCCM) profile. The LwCCM profile
disables the IT enterprise features of CCM, to optimize for OT applications.
This leads to a greatly reduced set of APIs that have to be supported by a
LwCCM product compared to a full CCM implementation, and reduced
execution environment footprint and overhead.
Per the introduction of the Data Distribution Service for CCM (DDS4CCM)
specification, the CCM standard was extended through the generic connector
concept to support both DDS as well as any CORBA alternative middleware as a
means of implementing communication between components. The DDS4CCM
connector concept was more recently incorporated into the CCM standard itself
as Generic Interaction Support (GIS). GIS introduces a way to extend the feature
set of a CCM implementation without extending the API definition of the
LwCCM core each time. DDS4CCM connectors expose a set of extended ports
to business components that implement a publish-subscribe information
exchange pattern. The two normative DDS4CCM DDS_Event and DDS_State
connectors internally communicate with DDS, although the middleware and
programming language agnostic IDL-defined APIs can accommodate alternative
middleware implementations that support publish-subscribe.
The recently adopted AMI4CCM specification reuses the GIS connector concept
as well, to add asynchronous method invocation (AMI) to CCM without
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extending the API definition of the CCM core. AMI4CCM supplemented the
publish-subscribe pattern connector capability introduced by DDS4CCM with a
complementary request-reply information exchange pattern.
A prime concern raised about CCM in embedded applications is that its
mandatory dependency on CORBA can lead to unwanted memory and storage
footprint, particularly when alternative middleware implementations are used.
The hard to use IDL to C++ language mapping has also led to a lot of issues for
users. The robotics community within the OMG has defined its own Robotics
Technology Component (RTC) standard to resolve these concerns. Some CCM
implementations have defined their own custom language mappings to
circumvent these problems.
With the recent adoption of the IDL to C++11 language mapping we have a new
language mapping that makes CCM application code independent of CORBA
middleware and the CORBA name space for C++ users.
In order to address the problems outlined in this document, the first step in the
realization of a new Unified Component Model for distributed, real-time and
embedded applications (UCM4DRE) is removal of the mandatory dependency
on CORBA from the CCM core. Relative to LwCCM, new UCM solutions must
be simpler, lighter weight, middleware agnostic, and they should incorporate the
GIS connector concept from the CCM specification. Moreover, proposals
should address an evolutionary approach toward leveraging LwCCM and its
related suite of comprehensive standards to the maximum practical extent, in
order to provide a clean transition path toward UCM for LwCCM
implementations and use cases that already exist. To this end, UCM must
provide generic interaction support through extended ports for both publish-
subscribe and request-reply patterns of information exchange, allowing support
for CORBA, DDS and other middleware solutions to be delivered through new
middleware independent connector types.
6.2 Scope of Proposals Sought
This RFP searches for proposals that define a simplified, evolutionary version of
the current combined suite of CCM/LwCCM, QoS4CCM, DDS4CCM and
AMI4CCM standards targeting general purpose distributed, real-time and
embedded (DRE) applications. New middleware agnostic UCM solutions should
not offer a completely different or new component model, but should instead
leverage the current suite of OMG component oriented standards to the
maximum practical extent.
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6.3 Relationship to other OMG Specifications and activities
6.3.1 Relationship to OMG specifications
CORBA v3.3 - formal/2012-11-12, formal/2012-11-14, formal/2012-11-16
DDS for CCM (DDS4CCM) – formal/2012-02-01
Asynchronous Method Invocation for CORBA Component Model (AMI4CCM)
– ptc/2012-07-08
Quality of Service for CCM (QOSCCM) – formal/2008-10-12
Data Distribution Service (DDS) – formal/2007-01-01
Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Distributed Applications
(DEPL) – formal/2006-04-02
IDL to C++11 (CPP11) – formal/2013-02-04
6.3.2 Relationship to other OMG Documents and work in progress
IDL 3.5 (IDL35) – mars/2011-09-08
6.4 Related non-OMG Activities, Documents and Standards
6.5 Mandatory Requirements
Proposals shall be independent of any particular middleware standard.
Proposals shall not have CORBA as a mandatory dependency for the new
Unified Component Model (UCM) standard.
Proposals shall use IDL, CCM Generic Interaction Support (GIS) connector
concepts, and GIS extensions to the IDL grammar for the specification of UCM
components, ports, template modules, connectors, mirror ports, interfaces, and
other supporting types in IDL.
Proposals shall support UCM component inheritance compliant with the IDL
specification. However, proposals do not have to offer support for component
inheritance from an IDL interface, per the IDL “supports” keyword.
Proposals shall support local connection between components and connectors
that does not go through any middleware layer, with the connection established
at launch time via a DEPL compliant deployment framework.
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Proposals shall address standardized component and connector life cycle state
model with appropriate callback operations compatible with a DEPL deployment
framework.
Proposals shall offer support for UCM GIS extended port types that implement a
middleware agnostic publish-subscribe information exchange pattern. Goal is to
leverage the DDS4CCM specification to the maximum practical extent.
Proposals shall support the definition of publish-subscribe pattern extended port
types via user-defined IDL “struct” or “union” type definitions using the
mechanism of GIS template module instantiation.
Proposals shall offer support for UCM GIS extended port types that implement a
middleware agnostic request-reply information exchange pattern. Goal is to
leverage the AMI4CCM specification for this definition.
Proposals shall support the definition of request-reply pattern extended port
types via user-defined IDL “interface” type definitions using the mechanism of
GIS template module instantiation.
Proposals shall provide the ability to implement component executors in a way
that they are source code compatible between UCM implementations.
Proposals shall address the interface of a UCM component implementation
framework (CIF) to a deployment framework that is compliant with the OMG
Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Distributed Applications
(DEPL) specification.
Proposals shall provide the ability to define component attributes with initial
component configuration values settable via a DEPL compliant deployment
framework.
Proposals shall provide support for scheduling timers (sporadic and recurring)
with application supplied event handlers, using at least monotonic and system
time.
Proposals shall provide support for a simple, lightweight CIF session container
that encapsulates a flexible event queue/dispatch and threading model. The
container provides the execution environment for UCM application components.
Proposals shall provide a user extensible, event driven programming model, that
supports both thread pools as well as a single-threaded/non re-entrant threading
model as the default.
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Proposals shall support the concept of service connectors which are connectors
that have only one instance within a container.
Proposals shall offer request-reply connector types that support both
synchronous and asynchronous method invocation from a client/request side
perspective.
Proposals shall offer request-reply connector types that support both
synchronous and asynchronous invocation handling from a service/reply side
perspective.
Proposals shall support the DDS4CCM standard defined DDS connectors for
State and Event communication patterns.
Proposals shall support a simple, optional and key-less factory/home capability
for dynamic/run-time component instantiation and destruction life cycle
management of application components.
Proposals shall address reconfiguration and redeployment options for
modification of a UCM domain at run-time.
Proposals shall not specify language bindings to specific programming
languages such as C/C++/C++11/Java, but shall instead leverage standard IDL
Language mappings.
Proposals shall address the implementation of a UCM request-reply connector
using CORBA.
6.6 Optional Requirements
Proposals may address the implementation of a UCM request-reply connector
using DDS.
Proposals may address the implementation of a UCM publish-subscribe
connector equivalent of a LwCCM event connector, which offers a UCM
alternative to the current built-in CCM event support.
6.7 Issues to be discussed
Proposal shall discuss how CCM components can be migrated to a UCM
environment.
These issues will be considered during submission evaluation. They should not
be part of the proposed normative specification. (Place them in Part I of the
submission.)
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6.8 Evaluation Criteria
6.9 Other information unique to this RFP
6.10 RFP Timetable
The timetable for this RFP is given below. Note that the TF or its parent TC may, in
certain circumstances, extend deadlines while the RFP is running, or may elect to have
more than one Revised Submission step. The latest timetable can always be found at the
OMG Work In Progress page at http://www.omg.org/schedules under the item identified
by the name of this RFP. Note that “<month>” and “<approximate month>” is the name
of the month spelled out; e.g., January.
Event or Activity Actual Date
Preparation of RFP by TF
RFP placed on OMG document server “Four week rule”
Approval of RFP by Architecture Board
Review by TC
TC votes to issue RFP September 2013
LOI to submit to RFP due December 1, 2013
Initial Submissions due and placed on February 13, 2014
OMG document server (“Four week
rule”)
Voter registration closes April 1, 2014
Initial Submission presentations March 17, 2014
Preliminary evaluation by TF
Revised Submissions due and placed on November 5, 2014
OMG document server (“Four week
rule”)
Revised Submission presentations December 8, 2014
Final evaluation and selection by TF
Recommendation to AB and TC
Approval by Architecture Board
Review by TC
TC votes to recommend specification December 2014
BoD votes to adopt specification March 2015
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Appendix A References and Glossary Specific to this
RFP
A.1 References Specific to this RFP
The following documents are referenced in this document:
• [CORBA] CORBA v3.3, formal/2012-11-12, formal/2012-11-14,
formal/2012-11-16
• [DDS4CCM] DDS for CCM, formal/2012-02-01
• [AMI4CCM] Asynchronous Method Invocation for CORBA Component
Model, ptc/2012-07-08
• [QOS4CCM] Quality of Service for CCM, formal/2008-10-12
• [DDS] Data Distribution Service, formal/2007-01-01
• [DEPL] Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Distributed
Applications, formal/2006-04-02
• [CPP11] IDL to C++11, formal/2013-02-04
• [IDL35] IDL 3.5, mars/2011-09-08
A.2 Glossary Specific to this RFP
Generic Interaction Support (GIS) – The generic connector concept as defined
in the CCM specification coming from DDS4CCM.
Appendix B General Reference and Glossary
B.1 General References
The following documents are referenced in this document:
[ATC] Air Traffic Control Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/air_traffic_control.htm
[BCQ] OMG Board of Directors Business Committee Questionnaire,
http://doc.omg.org/bc/07-08-06
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[CCM] CORBA Core Components Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/components.htm
[CORBA] Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA/IIOP),
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/corba_iiop.htm
[CSIV2] [CORBA] Chapter 26
[CWM] Common Warehouse Metamodel Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/cwm.htm
[DAIS] Data Acquisition from Industrial Systems,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/dais.htm
[EDOC] UML Profile for EDOC Specification,
http://www.omg.org/techprocess/meetings/schedule/UML_Profile_for_EDO
C_FTF.html
[EJB] “Enterprise JavaBeans™”,
http://java.sun.com/products/ejb/docs.html
[FORMS] “ISO PAS Compatible Submission Template”.
http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?pas/2003-08-02
[GE] Gene Expression,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/gene_expression.htm
[GLS] General Ledger Specification ,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/gen_ledger.htm
[Guide] The OMG Hitchhiker's Guide,, http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?hh
[IDL] ISO/IEC 14750 also see [CORBA] Chapter 3.
[IDLC++] IDL to C++ Language Mapping,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/c++.htm
[Inventory] Inventory of Files for a Submission/Revision/Finalization,
http://doc.omg.org/smsc/2007-09-05
[MDAa] OMG Architecture Board, "Model Driven Architecture - A
Technical Perspective”, http://www.omg.org/mda/papers.htm
[MDAb] “Developing in OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA),”
http://www.omg.org/docs/omg/01-12-01.pdf
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[MDAc] “MDA Guide” (http://www.omg.org/docs/omg/03-06-01.pdf)
[MDAd] “MDA "The Architecture of Choice for a Changing World™"”,
http://www.omg.org/mda
[MOF] Meta Object Facility Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/mof.htm
[MQS] “MQSeries Primer”,
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/pdfs/redp0021.pdf
[NS] Naming Service,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/naming_service.htm
[OMA] “Object Management Architecture™”, http://www.omg.org/oma/
[OTS] Transaction Service,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/transaction_service.htm
[P&P] Policies and Procedures of the OMG Technical Process,
http://www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?pp
[PIDS] Personal Identification Service,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/person_identification_se
rvice.htm
[RAD] Resource Access Decision Facility,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/resource_access_decisio
n.htm
[RFC2119] IETF Best Practices: Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels, (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt).
[RM-ODP] ISO/IEC 10746
[SEC] CORBA Security Service,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/security_service.htm
[TOS] Trading Object Service,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/trading_object_service.h
tm
[UML] Unified Modeling Language Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/uml.htm
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[UMLC] UML Profile for CORBA,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/profile_corba.htm
[XMI] XML Metadata Interchange Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/xmi.htm
[XML/Value] XML Value Type Specification,
http://www.omg.org/technology/documents/formal/xmlvalue.htm
B.2 General Glossary
Architecture Board (AB) - The OMG plenary that is responsible for ensuring
the technical merit and MDA-compliance of RFPs and their submissions.
Board of Directors (BoD) - The OMG body that is responsible for adopting
technology.
Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) - An OMG distributed
computing platform specification that is independent of implementation
languages.
Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) - An OMG specification for data
repository integration.
CORBA Component Model (CCM) - An OMG specification for an
implementation language independent distributed component model.
Interface Definition Language (IDL) - An OMG and ISO standard language for
specifying interfaces and associated data structures.
Letter of Intent (LOI) - A letter submitted to the OMG BoD’s Business
Committee signed by an officer of an organization signifying its intent to
respond to the RFP and confirming the organization’s willingness to comply
with OMG’s terms and conditions, and commercial availability requirements.
Mapping - Specification of a mechanism for transforming the elements of a
model conforming to a particular metamodel into elements of another model that
conforms to another (possibly the same) metamodel.
Metadata - Data that represents models. For example, a UML model; a CORBA
object model expressed in IDL; and a relational database schema expressed
using CWM.
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Metamodel - A model of models.
Meta Object Facility (MOF) - An OMG standard, closely related to UML, that
enables metadata management and language definition.
Model - A formal specification of the function, structure and/or behavior of an
application or system.
Model Driven Architecture (MDA) - An approach to IT system specification
that separates the specification of functionality from the specification of the
implementation of that functionality on a specific technology platform.
Normative – Provisions that one must conform to in order to claim compliance
with the standard. (as opposed to non-normative or informative which is
explanatory material that is included in order to assist in understanding the
standard and does not contain any provisions that must be conformed to in order
to claim compliance).
Normative Reference – References that contain provisions that one must
conform to in order to claim compliance with the standard that contains said
normative reference.
Platform - A set of subsystems/technologies that provide a coherent set of
functionality through interfaces and specified usage patterns that any subsystem
that depends on the platform can use without concern for the details of how the
functionality provided by the platform is implemented.
Platform Independent Model (PIM) - A model of a subsystem that contains no
information specific to the platform, or the technology that is used to realize it.
Platform Specific Model (PSM) - A model of a subsystem that includes
information about the specific technology that is used in the realization of it on a
specific platform, and hence possibly contains elements that are specific to the
platform.
Request for Information (RFI) - A general request to industry, academia, and
any other interested parties to submit information about a particular technology
area to one of the OMG's Technology Committee subgroups.
Request for Proposal (RFP) - A document requesting OMG members to submit
proposals to an OMG Technology Committee. Such proposals must be received
by a certain deadline and are evaluated by the issuing Task Force.
Task Force (TF) - The OMG Technology Committee subgroup responsible for
issuing a RFP and evaluating submission(s).
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Technology Committee (TC) - The body responsible for recommending
technologies for adoption to the BoD. There are two TCs in OMG – the
Platform TC (PTC) focuses on IT and modeling infrastructure related standards;
while the Domain TC (DTC) focuses on domain specific standards.
Unified Modeling Language (UML) - An OMG standard language for
specifying the structure and behavior of systems. The standard defines an
abstract syntax and a graphical concrete syntax.
UML Profile - A standardized set of extensions and constraints that tailors UML
to particular use.
XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) - An OMG standard that facilitates
interchange of models via XML documents.
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