Towards Ontology-Based Software Architecture Representations

In order to support a community-wide infrastructure for software architecture research and collaboration, an essential requirement is interoperability of architecture descriptions and representations at both syntactic and semantic levels. Previous research efforts in using various architecture description languages (ADL) have not met this requirement in part due to the lack of standardization, supporting tools, and industry acceptance. This paper makes a case for leveraging the Web Ontology Language (OWL) standard from the Semantic Web community as an underpinning medium for architecture representation and interchange. The paper presents a high level framework for modeling software architectures with ontologies that can be used not only for architecture description and maintenance, but also automated reasoning and analysis of architectural concerns. Illustrative examples for some use cases are given using a simple architecture ontology. With its wide adoption and a rich set of supporting tools, the OWL standard can help rally the academic community around a common platform, as well as bridging the gap with the software industry at large.