ISBN 978-967-5770-64-7

Software Analysis for Agents of Things (AoT) Applications

Anas M. Mzahm Mohd Sharifuddin Ahmad Alicia Y. C. Tang Azhana Ahmad

College of Graduate Studies College of CS & IT College of CS & IT College of CS & IT
Universiti Tenaga Nasional Universiti Tenaga Nasional Universiti Tenaga Nasional Universiti Tenaga Nasional
Kajang, Malaysia Kajang, Malaysia Kajang, Malaysia Kajang, Malaysia
anas1982mm@outlook.com sharif@uniten.edu.my aliciat@uniten.edu.my azhana@uniten.edu.my

Abstract—The Agents of Things is an extension of the Internet
of Things concept in which objects or things are embedded
with self-reasoning intelligent software agents to provide value-
added services to humans. However, a particular difficulty in
designing intelligent things for the Agents of Things
implementation is to determine the level of reasoning ability
that corresponds to the functions of the things. To achieve this
goal, we need to find an optimal match of hardware
configuration with the software abilities that intelligently
perform the functions of the things. In this paper, we analyze
different software to identify their spectrum in optimizing self-
reasoning intelligent software for the things. The result of this
analysis is a software spectrum that is organized in terms of
complexity and sophistication. We discuss the analytical
process to arrive at the spectrum.
types. Section IV presents and discusses the results from the
software analysis. Section V concludes the paper.
II. SOFTWARE DEFINITION
The computer program is defined as an instruction
structured in special ways that performs a specific task to
solve a particular problem [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. A software is
a set of programs that is used to manipulate the computer
hardware and peripherals to make use of them for different
purposes [4], [5], [7], [8], [9]. We categorize the computer
software into two main types, system software and
application software [3], [5], [9]. The interaction between
computer hardware and computer software (system and
application software) is represented in Figure 1 [3]:

Keywords-component; Internet of Things; Agents of Things;

Hardware Analysis; Software Analysis

I. INTRODUCTION
There is a common phrase that says “the need is the
mother of all inventions”. Because of this phrase, humanity
advanced from living in caves to living in the digital world.
The method humanity uses to achieve all its great inventions
is by research. For example, through research, we conduct an
extensive analysis on the Internet of Things (IoT) concept.
We then identify challenges of the concept and propose a
solution represented by the concept of Agents of Things
Figure 1. The interaction between computer hardware and software
(AoT) to mitigate some of these challenges [1].
A particular issue in the AoT implementation is to
determine the level of reasoning ability that corresponds to III. SOFTWARE TYPES
the functions of the things. To achieve our goal, we need to
examine the hardware configurations that can be The computer software is classified into two main
accommodated by the different kinds of software to be categories, which are system software and application
implemented by the AoT concept. We do so by initially software [8]. Each one of these main categories includes
conducting an analysis on various computing hardware, the many subcategories of software. Some of these subcategories
outcome of which is represented by a hardware spectrum [2]. work as supporting software such as the device drivers for
In this paper, we conduct a software analysis to examine the the system software. Other subcategories are classified as
types of software that can be run in various hardware independent categories in the main application software
configurations. Finally, the outcomes from these two category such as programming and business software [9].
analyses are used to create an optimal model of things in the Figure 2 shows the main software categories.
AoT concept.
This paper presents the work-in-progress of our research
in AoT. We organize the paper as follows: Section II defines
the software. Section III lists and analyzes the software

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Figure 2. Main software categories
A. System software
The system software represents the connection between
the computer hardware and user application software. The
main purpose for this type of software is to use, control and
manage the computer hardware resources, to serve and
benefits the computer users in the best way. The system
software includes three subcategories as shown in Figure 3,
which is:
Figure 3. System software subcategories
1) Operating system:
The operating system represents the general-purpose
software that runs, controls and manipulates the main
resources of the computer hardware, such as Processor,
Memory, etc. It creates a virtual environment that helps users
to utilize these resources and run the applications. Examples
of operating systems are Microsoft Windows, UNIX and
Apple OSX.
In the early days of the computer industry, computer
manufacturers provide system applications for their
hardware. However, after IBM launched the OS 360 in mid-
60s [10] and made it compatible with different hardware
providers, it unknowingly started a new era of computer
evolution, when computer hardware providers became
independent from computer software providers. This created
a problem for some software providers, they needed an
additional software to make the system software identify and
work with different hardware. Therefore, a new type of
software was introduced, which is the device drivers.
2) Device driver software:
After the new millennia, the advancement in hardware
technology witnessed a major revolution. A new type of
hardware device was introduced and it was designed to be
added to the main board of the computer separately [11],
such as graphics cards, sounds cards, and network cards.
Different companies manufacture these devices and
introduced them to the market long after the release of
operating systems. Therefore, the need for a software to
identify and manage the interface between these devices and
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the operating system is crucial. A special software was
introduced which was called the device driver software. A
device driver is a type of software produced by a hardware
manufacturer to allow the operating system to identify and
use the hardware sufficiently [11]. It allows the operating
system to operate the device to its maximum capabilities.
3) Utility software:
Utility software represent the outer layer of the system
software. This type of software is usually provided by
software and hardware providers. It performs some specific
tasks related to the computer operation in general. It
specifically maintain the integrity of the operating system,
data and applications by providing protection, backup or
other services such as data compression [4]. Moreover, some
of these software are responsible for monitoring, analyzing
and controlling the overall performance of the computer or
the operating system in general [4].
It is a logical thing to consider device drivers as a part or
a subcategory of the utility software. However, due to the
nature of this type of software it is far more important to be
categorized as a stand-alone category.
B. Application software
Application software represent the final layer of the
computer that has direct interaction with users. It is
developed from one or more software combined to do
specific functions for the benefits of users [3], [5]. This type
of software makes the computer useful for everyday tasks [3]
and users spend most of the time running their applications
on the computers [8]. The range of the application software
covers almost all aspects of human lives [8]. However, we
shed some light on a few major types of application software
as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Application software subcategories
1) Entertainment software
Entertainment software represent one of the fastest
growing applications in the computer application industry
[4]. This type of application includes all types of software
developed to amuse and entertain computer users. It includes
all the video and audio players, photo albums and galleries.
However, the most important entertainment applications are
represented by video games. The market share for video
games is estimated between 80 - 100 billion US dollars in
2015 [12], [13]. Examples of entertainment software include
these kinds of applications such as, Windows Media
Player™, Power DVD™ and VLC™ for video player
applications and Winamp™ and I-Tones™ for audio player
applications. For video games, we mention Call of Duty for
computers and Angry Birds for tablets and mobile devices

and they are just two examples from hundreds of thousands
of examples in this category.
2) Educational software
Educational software are a type of application that is
designed and used for academic and educational purposes
only. This kind of software is widely used in universities and
educational institutes to help students complete their
assignments [4]. There are many important educational
software in the market such as Math Lab for simulating
engineering and science experiments, programming
algorithms and calculating advance numerical equations.
SPSS is widely used for statistical analysis and in social
science. Endnote is used in academic and research fields to
manage and organize the references for researchers. These
are few examples of educational software available in the
market.
3) Business software
Business software represent an important field of
computer software application. They include applications
that run and manage the daily operations of businesses. The
business applications range from managing inventory,
organize payroll lists, accounting, etc. One of the most
reliable applications in accounting is called SAGE [4]. It is
important to mention that the business software for large
corporations and enterprises have evolved to include all the
required software in one large system called management
information system (MIS) [7].
4) Industrial systems software
Industrial software are a set of applications, programs
and information related to industrial and manufacturing areas
such as construction, mining, chemical processing, oil and
gas production [14]. Industrial software specialize in control
and manage all the required operations to manufacture
products. They also manage the supporting systems that help
or are involved in product manufacturing, such as defining
the properties and calculating dimensions of steel structures,
determining and pinpointing the best location to drill a hole
in a steel beam. Aegis Industrial is one of the leading
companies that provide industrial software [14].
5) General purpose software
The general purpose software are a type of application
for general-purpose use. This type of applications is very
popular among personal computer users. They include all the
software that perform the common information processing,
such as word processors, spreadsheets, database management
systems and basic graphic editing software. This kind of
software is used in many applications such as in the home,
academic, business or industrial fields [9]. This kind of
software is formed from many different software but
grouped under one suit or package. One of the most popular
software packages is the Microsoft Office Suit. Furthermore,
some software suits include extra software, such as e-mail
agent and groupware or messenger to support the
communication and collaboration and improve productivity
[9].
6) Embedded software
Embedded software are software that reside in products.
The advancement in technology represented by complex
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operations, small sizes and low costs are incorporated in
many household devices around us, such as microwaves,
TVs and cars. In general, these devices are controlled by on-
board hardware computing unit with read only memory (to
execute the program stored in the internal memory). These
devices use embedded software designed to run on the
hardware to do specific functions to benefit the users of the
product. The operations and functions provided by
embedded software are restricted to perform the designed
algorithms without the capability to be updated or changed in
the future. Embedded software can be found in many
consumer products such as the timers in microwave ovens,
washing machines and television control systems [7].
7) Programming software
Programming software represent the most effective tool
in software lifecycle. They give the means to the
programmer to create, modify or develop system software or
application software. They consist of three different levels,
which are machine language, assembly language and higher-
level language as shown in Figure 5 [4].
Figure 5. Programming language levels
The machine language represents the connection between
the computer hardware and the assembly language. It is
classified as a low-level computer language. It is formed
from binary numbers (0, 1) and directly recognizable by the
computer processor without a translator and can be directly
executed [4]. The assembly language on the other hand,
represents the connection between the machine language and
the higher-level language. It represents the first attempt to
give programming language a clear structure. It groups the
machine language bits in a certain form and given predefined
names [4].
Finally, the higher-level language, which represents the
top level computer language, is a user-friendly language
formed from phrases and words adapted from the natural
language [4]. This level of computer language went through
many development and improvement phases. It branched
into many subcategories, styles and paradigms. Therefore,
we only review the important programming paradigms that
we think create a benchmark through the computer
development lifecycle.
a) Software programming paradigms
The software paradigms represent the frameworks that
every programmer can choose to adopt during software
design. These paradigms support different programming
languages, styles and capabilities. The major programming
paradigms are imperative, declarative, functional, object-
oriented, logic, symbolic and abstractive [15]. However, the

functional and object-oriented paradigms can be represented
as a part of the declarative paradigm. Similarly, the symbolic
paradigm can be classified under the abstractive paradigm.
Therefore, the four major paradigms used to classify the
software are imperative, declarative, logic and abstractive.
 Imperative
The imperative paradigm is one of the earliest paradigms
used to design and build software. This style is based on the
hardwired design of early computers. It is designed to follow
a sequence of steps to implement the program. It uses a set of
statement to change the program state, similar to the natural
language concept when it uses an expression of a command
to take an action. Therefore, a program designed with this
kind of paradigm has a set of commands that must be
executed sequentially. The best example of a programming
language that uses the imperative paradigm is the assembly
language [15], [16]. Subsequently, the imperative style
improved and divided into segments. These segments are
called from within the main program to be used during the
execution. This development results in the creation of
procedures.
 Declarative
The declarative paradigm is a programming style in
which the elements of a program are defined without stating
the execution sequence [15], [16]. The benefit of this style is
to focus on accomplishing the goal, and leave how to
accomplish it on the language implementation [15], [16].
Unlike the imperative style where a program focuses on the
algorithmic steps to achieve the goal, declarative paradigms
incorporate many programming styles such as functions,
objects and logic.
The declarative paradigm combines its characteristics
with the characteristics of imperative and logical paradigms.
Figure 6 shows the characteristics distribution of declarative
programming paradigm.
Figure 6. Characteristics distribution of declarative programming
paradigm
At the top of the wave, programming languages such as
Haskell (for pure function) and Smalltalk (for pure objective)
represent the pure characteristics of declarative paradigm.
However, moving down towards one of the ends, the
programming languages start to incorporate more and more
characteristics of imperative or logic paradigms.
Programming languages such as database query languages,
SQL, support procedural or functional styles, while other
languages, such as C++, incorporate more than one style like
function, object and logic at the same time, which means that
they combine three paradigms together.
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 Logic
The logic programming paradigm is similar to declarative
paradigm in stating the program element and leaving the
execution sequence to the language itself [15], [16].
However, it is far more advanced from the declarative
paradigm. It uses formal logic to solve a problem by defining
facts using axioms and rules to implicate new facts
(proposed facts) and theorem which represent the goal that
the program must achieve by using the facts and rules [15].
 Abstractive
The abstractive paradigm, sometimes called symbolic
paradigm, is a programming style in which a program has the
ability to manipulate its program’s internal formula and
components like a data [3].
An abstractive program is distinguished by its ability to
incorporate smaller parts of other paradigms. It enables a
complicated process that in turn develops another
sophisticated process. Because of this ability, the program
can modify and change itself to seek an effective and optimal
performance. This ability makes the program appear to have
a learning ability, which makes it suitable for Artificial
Intelligence applications. The best languages that support
abstractive paradigm are Lisp and Prolog.
We choose to mention only four paradigms because we
focus on the working principles and the characteristics of the
paradigms. The four mentioned paradigms have completely
different characteristics and borders for each paradigm are
easily distinguishable. However, many researchers classify
the paradigms by using different criteria, such as
programming languages, execution methods and
programming styles. An example of another classification,
which has been mentioned by Wooldridge [17], about new
paradigm called the post-declarative paradigm includes all
the characteristics of declarative paradigm and the intelligent
characteristics of the logical paradigm.
b) Software evolution lifecycle
The lifecycle of the software we described supplements
the software lifecycle in software engineering. We are taking
a general approach about the software lifecycle by shedding
some light on the relationship between the program
languages and other types of software, namely system
software and application software.
Computers are used to build applications for the benefits
of users in general. Therefore, despite their types, software
must be built by programming languages. The lifecycle of
software starts from a programing language used to build an
application. However, there is also a need for software to run
and manage applications and their data. Therefore, the
operating system is also built by a programming language.
Figure 7 shows the software lifecycle in general.

Figure 7. Software common lifecycle
From Figure 7, we can see that the software lifecycle
follow a certain pattern. This pattern starts from a
programming language used to build an operating system.
Then, applications are built and run on the operating system.
The software lifecycle has its own updating lifecycle, which
follows the software engineering lifecycle. Results from new
improvements in programming languages, operating systems
and applications and the effect of aged software lacking new
features lead to the production of new and better
programming languages, which are used to build new
operating systems and applications. For an example of this
lifecycle, we start with the C++ programming language.
When C++ was introduced in the beginning of the 70s, it was
used to build many operating systems from UNIX to
Microsoft Windows in the 70s until mid-90s. It was also
used to build the applications for their operating systems.
Subsequently, it started aging and new features were
required to build better operating systems and applications.
Therefore, new programming languages were introduced and
included improved features and characteristics, such as Java,
C#, etc. and the software lifecycle starts all over again.
IV. DISCUSSION
The software analysis is an important step to proceed
with our AoT research. During this analysis, we review the
variety of software and classify them based on types and
computing abilities. The final result of this analysis is
represented by a software spectrum, as shown in Figure 8:
Figure 8. Software spectrum
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As shown in the figure, the inverted triangle is divided
vertically into three software categories, which are
applications, operating systems and supporting software. It is
also divided horizontally into four segments, which represent
the levels of program complexity, i.e., the software
sophistication and ability. Since the software are not useful
without proper hardware to run on, the hardware capabilities
are crucial on the final outcome of this analysis.
Starting from the bottom of the inverted triangle, we find
here software that is used with very limited hardware
resources, such as a Radio Frequency Identification sensor
(RFID). Due to hardware limitation, the software type at this
level is an application only with low programming ability. It
can perform primitive logical representation, such as
selections and loops. Moreover, it is most likely to be
hardwired and a non-programmable software.
Moving up, we find software that have more
programming abilities with devices of limited hardware
capabilities, such as sensor nodes. They are formed from
application and operating system software. Usually,
application software at this level are programmable and can
be changed based on user demands. They are also able to
perform advanced logical operations, such as multiple
selection, loops and functions. On the other hand, the
operating system software is hardwired and cannot be
changed. It is only used to manage and control the hardware
internal operation.
Moving up further, we find software that can be run on
hardware devices with considerable capabilities, such as
micro-controllers. At this level, the software are formed from
applications, operating systems and supporting software. The
applications and the operating systems are changeable and
reprogrammable, i.e., the micro-controllers have the ability
to run different type of operating systems and applications
based on user needs. However, due to the limited size of
some of these devices, many of them have on board
hardwired supported systems that allow them to do certain
functions and abilities, such as identifying an external printer
or communication device. The programming ability at this
level is powerful enough to run a sophisticated single
algorithm program based on single programming paradigm,
which can include combination of functions, objects and
simple abstraction of logic, such as reactive software agents.
Finally, at the top of inverted triangle we find very
powerful software that can be run on powerful devices like
the computers. The software at this level are formed from all
the previously mentioned software types with programmable
capabilities. The software’s programming abilities are so
advanced that they can create and accommodate programs
with multiple sophisticated algorithms based on multiple
programming paradigms, which include countless
combination of functions, objects and intelligent software
agents.
This software spectrum is used in combination with the
hardware spectrum that we have analyzed earlier [2]. Briefly,
the software complexity of a thing which is to be deployed in
an AoT implementation is analyzed and located in the
software spectrum. It is then matched with the corresponding
hardware in the hardware spectrum.

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK [5]
[6]
In this paper, we conduct an analysis to find the range of
software that can be covered by the AoT concept. Together
with the results of hardware analysis [2], it will help us to [7]
implement the AoT model by optimizing software in a
corresponding hardware configuration. [8]
We use the conventional method to conduct our analysis
by classifying the software into two main groups (system and [9]
application software). We then analyze all the software types
included in these two groups. The final result of this analysis [10]
represents a software spectrum revealing the increase in
software capabilities and sophistication as we ascend the [11]
spectrum. This spectrum is very important for our research to
[12]
determine the optimum software requirements for the
hardware of AoT implementations. [13]
In our future work, we shall combine the final outcome
of both analyses (software and hardware) and construct an
implementation model for the AoT that utilizes optimum
software and hardware for the things. The model will help us [14]
to determine the optimum reasoning level for the things in
the AoT concept.
[15]
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