Software patterns in ITS architectures

Abstract

The paper discusses ITS architectures in terms of patterns that exist within them. The concept of patterns has received surprisingly little attention so far from researchers in the field of ITS. A recent analysis of a number of existing ITS architectures has revealed that many ITS designers and developers use their own solutions when faced with design problems that are common to different systems, models, and paradigms. However, a closer look into such solutions and their comparison often shows that different solutions and the contexts in which they apply also have much in common, just like the corresponding problems do. In all such cases we can talk of the existence of patterns. A pattern is a generalized solution of a typical problem within a typical context. Discovering such patterns can help clarify general guiding principles of ITS-architectural design in a more systematic way.