Goal-oriented Requirements Research Articles

Expanding the nature and scope of requirements for service systems through Service-Dominant Logic: the case of a telemonitoring service

A renewed understanding of service as a process of resource application and integration, rather than as digital or physical products, shifts the focus of service engineering to the value-creating relationships among entities within complex socio-technical service systems. This understanding is based on Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic), a recognized perspective on value creation in modern economies. Goal-oriented modeling, in particular when integrating agent-oriented principles, has been shown to be a suitable method for designing and developing service systems based on S-D Logic principles. Yet, the impact of S-D Logic on the nature and scope of requirements to be elicited and analyzed when designing a service system using goal-oriented modeling has not been clearly articulated. We propose a domain-specific profile of the Goal-oriented Requirement Language, a goal-oriented modeling language part of the User Requirements Notation standard, as well as a set of heuristics for eliciting requirements for service systems. Both are derived from a metamodel of service systems based on S-D Logic principles. Using a case study of a telemonitoring service, we demonstrate that using the heuristics to generate a requirements model for the design of the service results in a more complete set of requirements than existing solutions for telemonitoring services. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the impact of S-D Logic on service engineering, pointing toward the need for more research on the impact of operationalized domain theories on requirements engineering.

Runtime Fault Detection in Programmed Molecular Systems

Watchdog timers are devices that are commonly used to monitor the health of safety-critical hardware and software systems. Their primary function is to raise an alarm if the monitored systems fail to emit periodic “heartbeats” that signal their well-being. In this article, we design and verify a molecular watchdog timer for monitoring the health of programmed molecular nanosystems. This raises new challenges, because our molecular watchdog timer and the system that it monitors both operate in the probabilistic environment of chemical kinetics, where many failures are certain to occur and it is especially hard to detect the absence of a signal. Our molecular watchdog timer is the result of an incremental design process that uses goal-oriented requirements engineering, simulation, stochastic analysis, and software verification tools. We demonstrate the molecular watchdog’s functionality by having it monitor a molecular oscillator. Both the molecular watchdog timer and the oscillator are implemented as chemical reaction networks, which are the current programming language of choice for many molecular programming applications.

Pridopidine reverses phencyclidine-induced memory impairment

Manufacturing systems are going through strategic changes to move from current massive customization production process towards new digital models - also called Industry 4.0. Process planning for this new approaches demand artificial intelligent and requirements modeling that should be formally verified. Therefore, requirements for manufacturing - eventually distributed - processes should be formalized and analyzed to lead to effective smart solutions. Goal-oriented requirements appear as a suitable approach to requirements but still need a formal representation that could deal with discrete distributed plants. Finding such representation is a key issue to model and verify requirements. This paper presents a method and a framework to put together goal-oriented requirements and Petri Nets, as an alternative to the requirements for manufacturing systems capable to deal with digital twins. A classic example associated to a car manufacturing plant is also presented to illustrate the method.

A new Requirements Engineering approach for Manufacturing based on Petri Nets

Abstract Manufacturing systems are going through strategic changes to move from current massive customization production process towards new digital models - also called Industry 4.0. Process planning for this new approaches demand artificial intelligent and requirements modeling that should be formally verified. Therefore, requirements for manufacturing - eventually distributed - processes should be formalized and analyzed to lead to effective smart solutions. Goal-oriented requirements appear as a suitable approach to requirements but still need a formal representation that could deal with discrete distributed plants. Finding such representation is a key issue to model and verify requirements. This paper presents a method and a framework to put together goal-oriented requirements and Petri Nets, as an alternative to the requirements for manufacturing systems capable to deal with digital twins. A classic example associated to a car manufacturing plant is also presented to illustrate the method.

Measuring Goal-Oriented Requirements Language Actor Stability

Measuring Goal-Oriented Requirements Language Actor Stability

A model-driven IT governance process based on the strategic impact evaluation of services

Model-driven engineering is used for managing software systems development. In most cases, requirements representations are transformed into design diagrams themselves transformed into code, ensuring traceability. Such an approach can nevertheless take roots on a more abstract level and be used for IT governance. Goal-oriented requirements engineering can be adapted to model strategic objectives aimed to lead the organization to an enhanced competitive position in the long-term. Most IT governance and management frameworks are driven by the concept of service. The latter allows to package the work offer of an IT provider. Within their realization, such services align or misalign with strategic objectives. This paper proposes a model-driven IT governance process allowing to evaluate the alignment of business IT services to strategic objectives; it follows the 3 stages of IT governance: evaluate, direct and monitor. The approach allows to integrate the governance level as a (graphical) strategic layer made of long-term objectives that business IT services potentially contribute or hamper to attain. The strategic layer is custom developed for each organization and linked with organizational representations in a model-driven fashion to study business and IT alignment. The framework is called MoDrIGo; it is applied onto a case study in a hospital.

A Fuzzy based Fishbone Method for Goal-Oriented Requirements Analysis

International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering (A UGC Approved and indexed with DOI, ICI and Approved, DPI Digital Library) is one of the leading and growing open access, peer-reviewed, monthly, and scientific research journal for scientists, engineers, research scholars, and academicians, which gains a foothold in Asia and opens to the world, aims to publish original, theoretical and practical advances in Computer Science,Information Technology, Engineering (Software, Mechanical, Civil, Electronics & Electrical), and all interdisciplinary streams of Computing Sciences. It intends to disseminate original, scientific, theoretical or applied research in the field of Computer Sciences and allied fields. It provides a platform for publishing results and research with a strong empirical component. It aims to bridge the significant gap between research and practice by promoting the publication of original, novel, industry-relevant research.

Self-adaptive Software Modeling Based on Contextual Requirements

The ability of self-adaptive software in responding to change is determined by contextual requirements, i.e. a requirement in capturing relevant context-atributes and modeling behavior for system adaptation. However, in most cases, modeling for self-adaptive software is does not take into consider the requirements evolution based on contextual requirements. This paper introduces an approach through requirements modeling languages directed to adaptation patterns to support requirements evolution. The model is prepared through contextual requirements approach that is integrated into MAPE-K (monitor, anayze, plan, execute - knowledge) patterns in goal-oriented requirements engineering. As an evaluation, the adaptation process is modeled for cleaner robot. The experimental results show that the requirements modeling process has been able to direct software into self-adaptive capability and meet the requirements evolution.

Cloud computing and big data: Technologies and applications

Cloud computing and big data: Technologies and applications

A Goal-oriented Requirement Analysis Approach for the Selection of Data Mining Techniques for Non-Expert Users

The application of data mining techniques for obtaining knowledge has historically required the intervention of experts to obtain satisfactory results. This paper presents a solution proposal for the complex topic of identifying the requirements of non-expert users when trying to perform data mining techniques. The modeling language for objective-oriented requirements analysis i * (i star) has been used to facilitate the use of a taxonomy of requirements. As a result, it is intended that nonexpert users can represent their requirements without having relevant knowledge of data mining techniques. The application in a case study allows as proof of concept, validate the proposed model.

Evaluasi Kualitas Proses Rekayasa Kebutuhan Knowledge Acquistion in Automated Specification Menggunakan Model Concern of Requirement Engineering

One of the most common methods used for goal-oriented requirements engineering is Knowledge Acquistion in Automated Specification (KAOS). In the previous research KAOS method has been used to develop a system. In this research, the Concern of Requirements Engineering (CORE) model is used to evaluate KAOS perspective and meet the criteria of research methods to improve the quality of the requirements engineering process. The objective of quality evaluation of KAOS process is to measure and assess the process quality of KAOS methods. The assessment result shows that KAOS method still need to complement its activities regarding to risk impact analysis, manage agreements for changing needs, and manage relationships between needs.

Goal-oriented requirements engineering: an extended systematic mapping study

Over the last two decades, much attention has been paid to the area of goal-oriented requirements engineering (GORE), where goals are used as a useful conceptualization to elicit, model, and analyze requirements, capturing alternatives and conflicts. Goal modeling has been adapted and applied to many sub-topics within requirements engineering (RE) and beyond, such as agent orientation, aspect orientation, business intelligence, model-driven development, and security. Despite extensive efforts in this field, the RE community lacks a recent, general systematic literature review of the area. In this work, we present a systematic mapping study, covering the 246 top-cited GORE-related conference and journal papers, according to Scopus. Our literature map addresses several research questions: we classify the types of papers (e.g., proposals, formalizations, meta-studies), look at the presence of evaluation, the topics covered (e.g., security, agents, scenarios), frameworks used, venues, citations, author networks, and overall publication numbers. For most questions, we evaluate trends over time. Our findings show a proliferation of papers with new ideas and few citations, with a small number of authors and papers dominating citations; however, there is a slight rise in papers which build upon past work (implementations, integrations, and extensions). We see a rise in papers concerning adaptation/variability/evolution and a slight rise in case studies. Overall, interest in GORE has increased. We use our analysis results to make recommendations concerning future GORE research and make our data publicly available.

Goal model analysis of autonomy requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Designing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) for optimal autonomy while meeting user requirements is quite challenging. Researchers have focused on improving autonomy algorithms and verification methods to ensure safe and reliable autonomous behavior in UASs, but little research has been conducted on requirements engineering for UASs to answer design questions and explore the trade space for using autonomy to satisfy user requirements. This paper introduces a method to determine an optimal set of autonomous capabilities that satisfies UAS user requirements in the early stages of conceptual design. The method uses a modified Autonomy Requirements Engineering (ARE) process that applies quantitative measures and statistical analysis to Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE). We demonstrate this method in a case study of a “disaster robot,” i.e., a hazard response UAS for which the autonomy requirements were optimized using a goal model developed in the Goal-oriented Requirement Language (GRL), as implemented in the modeling tool jUCMNav. The high-level goals of the hazard response UAS—system performance, cost, and safety—were evaluated using the formula-based GRL strategy evaluation algorithm resident in jUCMNav version 6.0. An autonomy trade space study was conducted through a Design and Analysis of Simulation Experiments (DASE). Our designed simulation experiment inserted the number of trials (evaluation strategies) and inputs into the goal model, and evaluation data were analyzed to optimize design factors based on user weightings of the response variables. This paper presents a structured method of ARE for UASs, which could be adopted more broadly across other domains, demonstrating how to optimize autonomous capabilities for different design conditions.

The Role Clarity Framework to Improve Requirements Gathering

Incorrect and incomplete requirements have been reported as two of the top reasons for information systems (IS) project failures. In order to address these concerns, several IS analysis and design studies have focused on understanding the business needs and organizational factors prior to specifying the requirements. In this research, we add to the existing incremental solutions, such as the work system method and goal-oriented requirements engineering, by proposing the Role Clarity Framework drawn from the theories of“role dynamics”and“goal setting and task performance”in organization studies. The Role Clarity Framework consists of three main concepts related to any organizational role: expectations, activities, and consequences. Based on the interactions among different roles, this framework demonstrates how the business goals and activities of each role, as played out by IS users, are formed and/or changed in the organization. Finally, the Role Clarity Framework helps IS analysts to improve their communication with users and anticipate changes in their requirements, thus improving the gathering of requirements for IS design.

Refinement of value co-creation process using value constellation model developed with goal-oriented requirement analysis

Refinement of value co-creation process using value constellation model developed with goal-oriented requirement analysis

Organization Goal-Oriented Requirements Elicitation Process to Enhance Information System

<p><span>This paper introduces and proposes an approach in goal-oriented requirements elicitation process that using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), in information system enhancement process. KPIs can be used to control and reduce user requirements problems caused by personal interests of users in requirements elicitation process. An information system enhancement project for a distribution company has been used as a case study to demonstrate this approach. The case study shows that the requirements can be elicited from the organization goals and current information system condition rather than from user requirements. This approach also showed that KPIs have been able to control some user requirements that have difference point of view with high level stakeholder requirements. Compared with the previous research, IT goals and KPIs are more easily identified in the enhancement process rather than through development of a brand new information system.</span></p>

REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING FOR CLOUD COMPUTING ADAPTIVE MODEL

The easy access and flexibility provided by cloud computing have made various types of organizations use this technology as an alternative solution. However, the decision to use the cloud technology sometimes ignores the basic aspects related to the understanding of its compliance with the characteristics of the organization.Thus, many advantages of the adoption of the technology do not align with the needs.This paper discusses the requirements engineering of the alignment of the organizational characteristics and the cloud computing technology in order to create the adaptive ability to guide strategic-business driven organizations.The model proposed in this article is formulated based on three views: architectural, alignment, and adaptive, by employing the Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering.As a case study, the model is applied to cloud computing for university.The architectural view can translate the environmental characteristics of organizations through goal decomposition into detailed needs. Meanwhile, the alignment view can meet the implementation, so the dynamic adaptive ability can be realized through the adaptivity view.The mechanism of our proposed model can cover the adaptation needs before the migration (premigration), during the migration, and after the migration (postmigration).

Verifying goal-oriented specifications used in model-driven development processes

Goal-oriented requirements engineering promotes the use of goals to elicit, elaborate, structure, specify, analyze, negotiate, document, and modify requirements. Thus, goal-oriented specifications are essential for capturing the objectives that the system to be developed should achieve. However, the application of goal-oriented specifications into model-driven development (MDD) processes is still handcrafted, not aligned in the automated flow from models to code. In other words, the experience of analysts and designers is necessary to manually transform the input goal-oriented models into system models for code generation (models compilation). Some authors have proposed guidelines to facilitate and partially automate this translation, but there is a lack of techniques to assess the adequacy of goal-oriented models as starting point of MDD processes. In this paper, we present and evaluate a verification approach that guarantees the automatic, correct, and complete transformation of goal-oriented models into design models used by specific MDD solutions. In particular, this approach has been put into practice by adopting a well-known goal-oriented modeling approach, the i* framework, and an industrial MDD solution called Integranova.

Goal-oriented dashboard's requirements with i: a case study

espanolEste documento tiene como objetivo presentar un dashboard de inteligencia de negocio con un enfoque orientado a metas. Fue desarrollado un caso de estudio tomando como contexto del analisis una universidad cubana. Los requisitos del dashboard utilizan aspectos del modelado social y el lenguaje i *. Los modelos obtenidos permitieron analizar las metas, tareas y recursos necesarios para cumplir los requisitos del dashboard, asi como para alinear las metricas del dashboard con las metas del decisor. El dashboard resultante permitio visualizar y monitorear el desempeno de los estudiantes para el apoyo a la toma de decisiones a un nivel tactico. La contribucion de este trabajo es el empleo del enfoque orientado a metas para el modelado de los requisitos y la extraccion de las metricas de un dashboard alineadas con las metas de los decisores. EnglishThis paper aims to present a Business Intelligence dashboard with a goal-oriented approach. A case study was developed taking as context of analysis a Cuban college. The requirements of the dashboard were modeled by using aspects of social modeling and the language i*. The models obtained allowed analyzing the goals, tasks and resources necessary to accomplish the requirements of the dashboard, as well as to align the metrics of the dashboard with the goals of the decision-maker. The resulting dashboard allowed visualizing and monitoring the performance of students to support decision-making at a tactical level. The contribution of this paper is a goal-oriented approach for modeling the requirements of dashboards and for extracting the metrics of dashboards aligned with the goals of decision-makers.

GODA: A goal-oriented requirements engineering framework for runtime dependability analysis

Context: Many modern software systems must deal with changes and uncertainty. Traditional dependability requirements engineering is not equipped for this since it assumes that the context in which a system operates be stable and deterministic, which often leads to failures and recurrent corrective maintenance. The Contextual Goal Model (CGM), a requirements model that proposes the idea of context-dependent goal fulfillment, mitigates the problem by relating alternative strategies for achieving goals to the space of context changes. Additionally, the Runtime Goal Model (RGM) adds behavioral constraints to the fulfillment of goals that may be checked against system execution traces.Objective: This paper proposes GODA (Goal-Oriented Dependability Analysis) and its supporting framework as concrete means for reasoning about the dependability requirements of systems that operate in dynamic contexts.Method: GODA blends the power of CGM, RGM and probabilistic model checking to provide a formal requirements specification and verification solution. At design time, it can help with design and implementation decisions; at runtime it helps the system self-adapt by analyzing the different alternatives and selecting the one with the highest probability for the system to be dependable. GODA is integrated into TAO4ME, a state-of-the-art tool for goal modeling and analysis.Results: GODA has been evaluated against feasibility and scalability on Mobee: a real-life software system that allows people to share live and updated information about public transportation via mobile devices, and on larger goal models. GODA can verify, at runtime, up to two thousand leaf-tasks in less than 35ms, and requires less than 240 KB of memory.Conclusion: Presented results show GODA’s design-time and runtime verification capabilities, even under limited computational resources, and the scalability of the proposed solution.