Semantic web service composition by consistency-based model refinement

Modelling complex processes in the Service Oriented Architecture paradigm typically requires the composition of a number of simpler services to achieve a desired goal. We present a semantic service composition approach that is based on the use of UML activity diagrams as abstract specification language and propose a service selection process that combines both conceptual and instance-level analysis to locate suitable services. Model-driven principles allow to adhere to design requirements that would otherwise be difficult to incorporate in formal composition frameworks. Explicit modelling of behaviour in the presence of failures permit to create workflows that are robust in case of service execution errors. This approach may allow to synthesise concrete service orchestrations that are superior to similar approaches purely based on type-based or conceptual matchmaking.