Learning how to discover requirements

Requirements engineering (RE) is traditionally taught in academia using an RE process which starts from a well-defined problem. Our approach focuses on the early stages of requirements discovery where students have to learn both about the application domain and about what stakeholders feel is the problem. The approach comprises all the basic elements of requirements, and ways to discover them using many small discovery cycles. In this position paper we outline the rationale for our approach and reflect on our initial experiences with teaching undergraduate RE module using this approach

Semantic component selection - SemaCS

In component based software development, project success or failure largely depends on correct software component evaluation. All available evaluation methods require time to analyse components. Due to the black box nature of components, preliminary judgments are made based on vendor descriptions. As there is no standard way of describing components, descriptions have to be interpreted using semantics and domain knowledge. This paper presents a semi-automated generic method for component identification and classification based on generic domain taxonomy and user generated semantic input. Every query is semantically tailored to what is being looked for, arriving at better results then it is currently possible using available automated categorisation systems

Specifying timing requirements in domain specific languages for modeling

Complex Real-Time Embedded Systems (RTESs) can be developed using model-based engineering. The problem is choosing a modeling language that has capabilities to model the most important characteristic of RTESs: timing. This paper shows an analysis of the most popular modeling languages and their capabilities to model timing constraints in RTESs. It includes UML, SysML, AADL, MARTE and EAST-ADL. A brief comparison between MARTE and EAST-ADL, based on the case study from the automotive industry, is also included

Model-based engineering in real-time embedded systems: specifying timing constraints

This paper presents the results from a research project on development of Real-Time Embedded Systems (RTESs) using a Model-Based Engineering (MBE) approach. A review of the state-of-the-art modelling languageswas done in order to assess their capabilities to model time. A chosen case study,a Brake-By-Wire (BBW) system, was taken from the automotive industry.The case study focuses on the use of EAST-ADL to model the RTES and TADL to specify timing constraints. A different approach using MARTE to model the BBW system was developed within our project. This approach is used to compare MARTE (and OCL) with EAST-ADL (and TADL). The results show that MARTE can be used to model an RTES from the automotive industry but lacks some important semantic expressions for the timing constraints which are present in TADL

Towards a European master programme on global software engineering

This paper presents a European Master programme on global software engineering (SE), being put forward by four leading institutions from Sweden, UK, Netherlands and Italy. The Global SE European Master (GSEEM) programme aims to provide students with an excellence in SE based on sound theoretical foundations and practical experience, as well as prepare them to participate in global development of complex and large software systems. GSEEM has been designed with three noteworthy aspects: 1) Three specialization profiles in which the consortium excels: Software Architecting, Real-time Embedded Systems Engineering, and Web Systems and Services Engineering. 2) Two market-driven routes: "professional" to work as professionals, and "scientific" to continue the education towards research degrees. 3) An innovative concept of "shared modules", delivered together by multiple institutions. Four types of shared modules are foreseen: "parallel" twin modules which run remotely between universities, "shifted" modules which teach SE concepts incrementally with shifts in study locations and timeline ,"complementary" modules in which complementary SE concepts are taught in parallel through shared projects, and "common" modules which share the presentations and the project. The profiles realize "integrated knowledge" by complementing partial knowledge available at partner institutions. The paper explains how GSEEM achieves the objectives of educating global software engineers

Formal change impact analyses for emulated control software

Processor emulators are a software tool for allowing legacy computer programs to be executed on a modern processor. In the past emulators have been used in trivial applications such as maintenance of video games. Now, however, processor emulation is being applied to safety-critical control systems, including military avionics. These applications demand utmost guarantees of correctness, but no verification techniques exist for proving that an emulated system preserves the original system’s functional and timing properties. Here we show how this can be done by combining concepts previously used for reasoning about real-time program compilation, coupled with an understanding of the new and old software architectures. In particular, we show how both the old and new systems can be given a common semantics, thus allowing their behaviours to be compared directly

Multivariate random effects meta-analysis of diagnostic tests with multiple thresholds

Background. Bivariate random effects meta-analysis of diagnostic tests is becoming a well established approach when studies present one two-by-two table or one pair of sensitivity and specificity. When studies present multiple thresholds for test positivity, usually meta-analysts reduce the data to a two-by-two table or take one threshold value at a time and apply the well developed meta-analytic approaches. However, this approach does not fully exploi

Usability of the SAFEWAY@SCHOOL system in children with cognitive disabilities

PurposeSAFEWAY2SCHOOL is a programme based on several systems for the enhancement of school transportation safety for children. The aim of the study was to explore whether children with cognitive disabilities will notice, realise, understand, trust and accept the SAFEWAY2SCHOOL system and act in accordance with its instructions. Methods Fourteen children with cognitive disabilities and a control group of 23 children were shown five videos of scenarios involving journeys to and from school. During the first viewing visual scanning patterns were recorded with an eye tracking device. After a second viewing the participant was asked ten questions per scenario. Five questions addressed what the children saw on the video, and the remaining five what they would need to know and/or do within the scenario. Additional ratings of trust, likability, acceptability and usability were also collected. Results Very few differences were found in the visual scanning patterns of children with disabilities compared to children who participated in the control group. Of the 50 questions regarding what children saw or needed to know and/or do, only one significant difference between groups was found. No significant differences were found regarding self-reported ratings of trust, acceptability or usability of the system. Despite some significant differences across five of the 11 likability aspects, ratings were consistently high for both groups. Conclusions Children with cognitive disabilities proved that the SAFEWAY2SCHOOL system is as useful for them as it was for children in the control group. However, a valid estimation of the full utility of SAFEWAY2SCHOOL requires in situ testing of the system with these children