% $Id: abstract.tex 19213 2009-08-17 10:06:43Z gokhale $
\begin{abstract}
The development and operational life-cycles of distributed real-time and
embedded (DRE) systems can be improved using component middleware due to
its support for rapid assembly and deployment of large applications.
The flexibility of component middleware can, however, complicate DRE
system development since non functional system properties, such as 
system quality of service (QoS), depends on the effective configuration
of the middleware.  DRE system developers often lack detailed knowledge
of the underlying middleware, which makes it challenging for them to map
the domain-specific QoS policies into the right set of QoS
configurations of the middleware.  This paper describes a technique
based on model transformations that addresses these challenges.  Our
technique enables developers to use domain-specific abstractions to
specify their QoS policies, which are transformed into middleware
QoS configurations using model transformation algorithms we developed.
Verifying the correctness of the transformation process itself and that
of the generated QoS configurations is addressed using structural
correspondence and automated model checking, respectively.  
% A proof-of-concept validation of the effectiveness of our technique to
% meet the end-to-end QoS requirements is presented in the context of a
% representative DRE system.

\noindent\textbf{Keywords:} Model transformation, QoS policies,
middleware configurations, DSMLs.

\end{abstract}
