Claus Pahl

Full Professor of Software Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy.

 Tel:     +39 0471 016 177
 Fax:    +39 0471 016 009

 EMail: Claus.Pahl-at-unibz-dot-it

Contents:

[ Publications ]

[ Research ]

[ Projects ]

[ Teaching ]

Courses:

[ Master: Requirements Engineering for Dependable Systems ]

[ Bachelor: Software Engineering ]

Publications:

Software Architecture, Cloud/Edge/IoT, DevOps and IaC

with a specific focus on the following topics:

• Adaptivity in Cloud Computing: data integration for on-demand architectures; ontology-based service mediation for on-demand service systems; multi-tenancy SOA and policy-based governance.
• Scalable Cloud Computing Platforms: infrastructure scalability (VM, storage, network); pattern-based quality prediction; SLA management architectures.
• Dynamic Cloud Models - Quality and Monitoring: dynamic architectural configuration, service models at runtime; logic and ontology for runtime SOA modelling and composition; constraints monitoring; multi-tenancy SOA and SOA governance.
• AI-Driven Controller: use of AI techniques, such as nature-inspired (PSO) or reinforcement learning (Q-learning, SARSA), to construct controllers for resource management and workload distribution. Quality management and metrics for controllers.

• Fog and Edge Cloud Architectures: edge cloud architectures; single-board computing infrastructures; Raspberry Pi; cluster management; self-management.
• Container Architectures and Microservices for the IoT Edge : container technology; Docker; container platforms and clusters; performance management; orchestration.

• Microservice Architectures: deployment; monitoring and analyses; anomaly detection; root cause analysis.
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC): systems operation; incident handling; log analysis; self-healing.

Possible BSc and MSc Projects:

• Container and Microservice Architecture (Area: software systems architecture): the aim is to allow container virtualisation to run on smaller devices like Raspberry Pis and to learn how to configure these best. Involves platform installation, configuration and experimentation (e.g. performance engineering).
  One sample problem is to experiment with Kubernetes on RPi clusters - from a performance engineering perspective, looking at scalability and other aspects.
• Cloud Controllers (Area: autonomous systems + performance engineering + AI): the aim of the project is to investigate automatic cloud resource optimisation. This can involve different AI and machine learning techniques to create an autonomous resource management system.
• Cluster Management (Area: distributed systems + performance engineering + dependability): the objective is to investigate distribution and workload orchestration strategies for IoT and edge clusters (i.e. distributed systems management applied to IoT and edge).
  A specific problem is high mobility: what is the right level of 'edge'? how close to the network should the MEC be? For that, we can measure traffic (user to MEC, inter MEC if the user is highly mobile), and also include costs for local edge clouds into the determination of results.
• DevOps and Infrastructure-as-Code (Area: software systems management ): the objective is the development of tools for (maybe cloud-based) automated software deployment and management, requiring intelligent rule engines and controller for cybersecurity and performance incidents.

For these projects, the CECL Cloud and Edge Computing Lab (hardware and simulation tools) can be used. Concrete use cases can be derived from large research projects, e.g. 5G-CARMEN on autonomous cars and intelligent mobility, that UniBZ is involved in.

Below are some thesis examples that were published research papers:

• Isidora Erakovic, Claus Pahl: Anomaly Detection for Partially Observable Container Systems Based on Architecture Profiling. CLOSER 2025: 127-135
• Isidora Erakovic, Claus Pahl: Hybrid Root Cause Analysis for Partially Observable Microservices Based on Architecture Profiling. CLOSER 2025: 255-263
• Seyed Mohsen Rostamkolaei Motlagh, Claus Pahl, Hamid R. Barzegar, Nabil El Ioini: A Comparative Evaluation of Zero Knowledge Proof Techniques. IoTBDS 2025: 237-244
• Seyed Mohsen Rostamkolaei Motlagh, Claus Pahl, Hamid R. Barzegar, Nabil El Ioini: A Technology Review of Zero Knowledge Proof Techniques. IoTBDS 2025: 245-253
• Ibe Van Thillo, Zeeshan Hameed, Claus Pahl: Multi-Factor Trust Management in Distributed Storage Networks based on Capacity and Behavior. FMEC 2024: 228-236
• Riccardo Busetti, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar, Claus Pahl: A Comparison of Synchronous and Asynchronous Distributed Particle Swarm Optimization for Edge Computing. CLOSER 2023: 194-203
• Jan Werth, Nabil El Ioini, Mohammad Hajian Berenjestanaki, Hamid R. Barzegar, Claus Pahl: A Platform Selection Framework for Blockchain-Based Software Systems Based on the Blockchain Trilemma. ENASE 2023: 362-371
• Jan Werth, Mohammad Hajian Berenjestanaki, Hamid R. Barzegar, Nabil El Ioini, Claus Pahl: A Review of Blockchain Platforms Based on the Scalability, Security and Decentralization Trilemma. ICEIS (1) 2023: 146-155
• Laura Maria Marques da Fonseca, Hamid R. Barzegar, Claus Pahl: Decentralized Identification and Information Exchange in Distributed, Blockchain-Based Internet Architectures: A Technology Review. WEBIST 2023: 535-544
• Riccardo Busetti, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar, Claus Pahl: Distributed Synchronous Particle Swarm Optimization for Edge Computing. FiCloud 2022: 145-152
• Riccardo Busetti, Hamid R. Barzegar, Nabil El Ioini, Claus Pahl: Asynchronous Distributed Particle Swarm Optimization for Edge Cloud Architectures. FiCloud 2022: 153-160
• Patrick Pirri, Claus Pahl, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar: Towards Cooperative Maneuvering Simulation: Tools and Architecture. CCNC 2021: 1-6
• Oscar Ricardo Cuéllar Rodríguez, Van Thanh Le, Claus Pahl, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar: Improvement of Edge Computing Workload Placement using Multi Objective Particle Swarm Optimization. IOTSMS 2021: 1-8
• Manuel Valentin, Claus Pahl, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar: A Blockchain-based Access and Management System for IoT Devices. IOTSMS 2021: 1-8
• Fabian Gand, Ilenia Fronza, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar, Shelernaz Azimi, Claus Pahl: A Fuzzy Controller for Self-adaptive Lightweight Edge Container Orchestration. CLOSER 2020: 79-90
• Fabian Gand, Ilenia Fronza, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar, Shelernaz Azimi, Claus Pahl: Fuzzy Container Orchestration for Self-adaptive Edge Architectures. CLOSER (Selected Papers) 2020: 203-232
• Fabian Gand, Ilenia Fronza, Nabil El Ioini, Hamid R. Barzegar, Claus Pahl: Serverless Container Cluster Management for Lightweight Edge Clouds. CLOSER 2020: 302-311
• Marco Pomalo, Van Thanh Le, Nabil El Ioini, Claus Pahl, Hamid R. Barzegar: A Data Generator for Cloud-Edge Vehicle Communication in Multi Domain Cellular Networks. IoTSMS 2020: 1-8
• Marco Pomalo, Van Thanh Le, Nabil El Ioini, Claus Pahl, Hamid R. Barzegar: Service Migration in Multi-domain Cellular Networks based on Machine Learning Approaches. IoTSMS 2020: 1-8
• Remo Scolati, Ilenia Fronza, Nabil El Ioini, Areeg Samir, Claus Pahl: A Containerized Big Data Streaming Architecture for Edge Cloud Computing on Clustered Single-board Devices. CLOSER 2019: 68-80
• Remo Scolati, Ilenia Fronza, Nabil El Ioini, Areeg Samir, Hamid Reza Barzegar, Claus Pahl: A Containerized Edge Cloud Architecture for Data Stream Processing. CLOSER (Selected Papers) 2019: 150-176
• Hafiz Faheem Shahid, Claus Pahl: Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimisation and Multi Objective Optimization for the Orchestration of Edge Cloud Clusters. IJCCI 2019: 155-162
• David von Leon, Lorenzo Miori, Julian Sanin, Nabil El Ioini, Sven Helmer, Claus Pahl: A Lightweight Container Middleware for Edge Cloud Architectures. Fog and Edge Computing 2019: 145-170
• Federico Ghirardini, Areeg Samir, Ilenia Fronza, Claus Pahl: Model-Driven Simulation for Performance Engineering of Kubernetes-Style Cloud Cluster Architectures. ESOCC Workshops 2018: 7-20
• David von Leon, Lorenzo Miori, Julian Sanin, Nabil El Ioini, Sven Helmer, Claus Pahl: A Performance Exploration of Architectural Options for a Middleware for Decentralised Lightweight Edge Cloud Architectures. IoTBDS 2018: 73-84

Consultation Hours:

• after the lecture and lab sessions - or by appointment (email)

Teaching:

• [ Master: Requirements Engineering for Dependable Systems ]
• [ Bachelor: Software Engineering ]

Research Group: