Data mapping principles and algorithm for self-configurable systems

With the challenges brought by the expansion of network scale, as well as the diversity of the equipments and the complexity of network protocols, many self-configurable systems have been proposed combining formal specification and model finding techniques. In this paper, we pay more attention to formal specifications of network information, i.e., exploring principles and algorithm to map network information (topology, devices and status, etc.) to Alloy specifications. We first model network information in relational form, which is easy to realize because of the structured feature of network information in nature. Then we map the relational data to Alloy specifications according to our novel data mapping principles and algorithm. Based on the transition of relational data, it is possible to automatically map network information to Alloy specifications. We evaluate our data mapping principles and algorithm by applying them to a practical application scenario. The results illustrate that we can find a model for the task within a tolerant time interval, which implies that our novel approach can convert relational data to Alloy specifications correctly and efficiently.