A comparison framework for runtime monitoring approaches

The full behavior of complex software systems often only emerges during operation. They thus need to be monitored at run time to check that they adhere to their requirements. Diverse runtime monitoring approaches have been developed in various domains and for different purposes. Their sheer number and heterogeneity, however, make it hard to find the right approach for a specific application or purpose. The aim of our research therefore was to develop a comparison framework for runtime monitoring approaches. Our framework is based on an analysis of the literature and existing taxonomies for monitoring languages and patterns. We use examples from existing monitoring approaches to explain the framework. We demonstrate its usefulness by applying it to 32 existing approaches and by comparing 3 selected approaches in the light of different monitoring scenarios. We also discuss perspectives for researchers.