Requirements Engineering Process Research Articles

Characterising requirement engineering process and methodological tools for geographical information system (GIS) applications

This article describes the requirements engineering process and the methodological tools used in geographical information system (GIS) applications as a way to face the absence of a consistent and complete specific alternative for this domain. Requirements engineering for GIS applications are thus introduced; requirements types, actors involved and communication aspects important for the process are exhibited and current methodologies are classified in modelling and specification languages. Additionally, geomatic standards as a transversal element for GIS applications are presented.

Systems architecting for real-time vehicle controls evaluation

Evaluation systems for Real-Time (RT) vehicle chassis controls as test enabling subsystems are architected and designed using the process for system architecture and requirements engineering. Based on the architecture, plus a few technically ensured subsystem modules, two example test-benches are designed and used for accurate RT Hardware-In-the-Loop Simulations (HILS). The architecture has both common modules, for example RT computer, RT vehicle dynamics model and Graphic User Interface (GUI), and application-dependent modules. Architected test evaluation subsystems are flexible to apply other kinds of vehicle control systems and may be useful for accelerated vehicle development process.

REMM-Studio: an Integrated Model-Driven Environment for Requirements Specification, Validation and Formatting.

In order to integrate requirements into the current Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) approach, the traditional document-based requirements specification process should be changed into a requirements modelling process. To achieve this we propose a requirements metamodel called REMM (Requirements Engineering MetaModel) which includes the elements that should appear in a requirements model (requirements, stakeholders, test cases, etc.) together with the relationships that may appear between them. This metamodel is the basis of the REMM-Studio environment which enables: (1) to build graphical requirements models, (2) to validate them against the metamodel and against a set of additional OCL constraints, and (3) to automatically generate a navigable Software Requirements Specification (SRS) document as the main deliverable of the Requirements Engineering process. REMM-Studio is expected to ease the integration of requirements with other development models (e.g. component models) and to facilitate the validation of the SRS thanks to its navigability.

Situational Requirements Engineering Processes: reflecting on method engineering and requirements practice

Software engineering situations vary considerably from project to project. As a consequence, a number of different situation-specific factors significantly influence the requirements engineering (RE) process. These factors include project objective, application domain, features of the product to be developed, stakeholders involved, and various technological conditions and constraints. At the same time, published process models and software specification and design methods are, by their very nature, general descriptions applicable in a wide range of situations. Consequently, projects require tailored methods and tools to support the actual RE process at hand. The need for process (or method) tailoring has been long acknowledged in the software process

Requirement process establishment and improvement from the viewpoint of cybernetics

As a branch of engineering cybernetics, automatic control theory has been extensively applied to improve products, increase productivity and rationalize management. This paper adapts the principles of automatic control theory to the field of software process improvement. In particular, the work described uses control theory to define a requirement engineering (RE) process control system, its dynamic and steady-state performance, and the steps in designing, analyzing and improving such a system. The work has highlighted the need for process activities relating to measuring elements, including those in feedback compensation and organizational support. The results of this research can be used to guide the establishment and improvement of RE processes, compare different requirement process solutions quantitatively, develop methods for evaluating benefits from process improvements, and structure the application of knowledge about RE.

Knowledge-enriched Requirement Specification for One-of-a-kind Complex Systems

Requirement engineering (RE) process is becoming a key factor for the success of complex one-of-a-kind products. The RE process is commonly viewed as an early system engineering phase with a major bearing on response time, quality, and cost. This study reports on the knowledge acquisition and sharing for requirement engineering (KARE), approach for requirement specification of one-of-a-kind complex systems. The approach provides a generic view of key RE processes clustered into three groups of activities - requirements elicitation, analysis, and negotiation. The process is supported by a set of knowledge functions aimed at facilitating the requirement engineers in matching customer requirements to product characteristics. At the analysis stage, the customer requirements are transformed into product requirements, which can be compared to existing company knowledge, for example, previous products, technology platforms, and production capabilities. The specified product requirements are then interactively evaluated and negotiated against customer and supplier performance indicators.

Defining a Requirements Process Improvement Model

Both software organisations and the academic community are aware that the requirements phase of software development is in need of further support. We address this problem by creating a specialised Requirements Capability Maturity Model (R-CMM1). The model focuses on the requirements engineering process as defined within the established Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI’s) software process improvement framework. Our empirical work with software practitioners is a primary motivation for creating this requirements engineering process improvement model. Although all organisations in our study were involved in software process improvement (SPI), they all showed a lack of control over many requirement engineering activities.This paper describes how the requirements engineering (RE) process is decomposed and prioritised in accordance with maturity goals set by the SEI’s Software Capability Maturity Model (SW CMM). Our R-CMM builds on the SEI’s framework by identifying and defining recommended RE sub-processes that meet maturity goals. This new focus will help practitioners to define their RE process with a view to setting realistic goals for improvement.

Towards the automatic generation of mobile agents for distributed intrusion detection system

The Mobile Agent Intrusion Detection System (MAIDS) is an agent based distributed Intrusion Detection System (IDS). A disciplined requirement engineering process is developed to build MAIDS. The starting point is a high level description of intrusions expressed as Software Fault Trees (SFTs). Then the SFTs are translated to Colored Petri Nets (CPNs) that specify the IDS design. Subsequently, the CPNs are implemented as software intrusion detection agents in the MAIDS agent system. By using SFT and CPN as the theoretical underpinnings, the design and implementation of MAIDS can be verified and the design and implementation errors can be substantially reduced. This paper presents a tool that automatically translates CPNs that specify IDS design into software intrusion detection agents in MAIDS. Together with the translator we have developed to convert SFTs that model intrusions into the CPN for IDS design, this tool can automatically generate intrusion detection software agents from a high level description of intrusions.

Using an expert panel to validate a requirements process improvement model

In this paper we present components of a newly developed software process improvement model that aims to represent key practices in requirements engineering (RE). Our model is developed in response to practitioner needs highlighted in our empirical work with UK software development companies. We have now reached the stage in model development where we need some independent feedback as to how well our model meets our objectives. We perform this validation through involving a group of software process improvement and RE experts in examining our RE model components and completing a detailed questionnaire. A major part of this paper is devoted to explaining our validation methodology. There is very little in the literature that directly relates to how process models have been validated, therefore providing this transparency will benefit both the research community and practitioners. The validation methodology and the model itself contribute towards a better understanding of modelling RE processes.

9.1.1 Applying Systems Engineering to University Satellite Projects

AbstractA growing number of spacecraft development programs are emerging at universities across the world. These programs share a lot of characteristics because they are all encouraged by the perception that a small spacecraft can both be capable and low‐cost. The success of these missions, both on a performance and programmatic level, is often due to use of adapted design and verification methods from mainstream large satellites. These methods are well described in successive papers like [McInnes, 2001] & [Kitts, 1995]. Less attention is however paid to the adaptation of the requirements definition process and design configuration management process into a small satellite project. This paper shows the need for the adaptation of full Systems Engineering (SE) functionality into such a project and that it is possible to adapt the SE process, while keeping full functionality, into a small spacecraft project that is conducted in an educational environment. The paper describes the successful introduction of the requirement engineering process and configuration/design management in the Delfi‐1 university satellite program, as part of the primary author's master thesis.

Implementing requirements engineering processes throughout organizations: success factors and challenges

This paper aims at identifying critical factors affecting organization-wide implementation of requirements engineering (RE) processes. The paper is based on a broad literature review and three longitudinal case studies that were carried out using an action research method. The results indicate that RE process implementation is a demanding undertaking, and its success greatly depends on such human factors as motivation, commitment and enthusiasm. Therefore, it is essential that the RE process is useful for its individual users. Furthermore, the results indicate that organizations can gain benefits from RE by defining a simple RE process, by focusing on a small set of RE practices, and by supporting the systematic usage of these practices.

The fundamental nature of requirements engineering activities as a decision-making process

The requirements engineering (RE) process is a decision-rich complex problem solving activity. This paper examines the elements of organization-oriented macro decisions as well as process-oriented micro decisions in the RE process and illustrates how to integrate classical decision-making models with RE process models. This integration helps in formulating a common vocabulary and model to improve the manageability of the RE process, and contributes towards the learning process by validating and verifying the consistency of decision-making in RE activities.

Managing the requirements engineering process

Process management is a crucial issue in developing information or computer systems. Theories of software development process management suggest that the process should be supported and managed based on what the process really is. However, our learning from an action research study reveals that the requirements engineering (RE) process differs significantly from that which the current literature tends to describe. The process is not a systematic, smooth and incremental evolution of the requirements model, but involves occasional simplification and restructuring of the requirements model. This revised understanding of the RE process suggests a new challenge to both the academic and industrial communities, demanding new process management approaches. In this paper, we present our understanding of the RE process and its implications for process management.

3.5.4 A COTS‐Aware Requirements Engineering Process: a Goal‐ and Agent‐oriented Approach

AbstractThe goals of developing systems better, faster, and cheaper continue to drive software engineering practitioners and researchers to investigate software engineering methodologies. In requirements engineering, the focus has been on modeling the software engineering process and products for systems that are being built from scratch. As the size and complexity of systems continues to grow the use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) components is being viewed as a solution. Effective use of COTS components, however, requires a systematic approach that provides both a set of concepts for modeling the subject matter and a set of guidelines for using such concepts. In particular, the process needs to recognize and address the people oriented problems including the identification and resolution of conflicting goals, bridging the gaps between stated requirements and ‘approximately fitting’ components while still satisfying the customer. In this paper, we present a goal and agent oriented requirements engineering process model that explicitly addresses the use of COTS components. More specifically, we present (part of) our model for a COTS‐Aware Requirements Engineering (CARE) process and illustrate it using a Digital Library System.

Requirements engineering—exploring the influence of power and Thai values

This paper explores the impact of Thai social status and hierarchical decision-making processes during Requirements Engineering (RE) in business information systems development projects. The paper illustrates the interaction of RE processes and national culture and shows that culture can change the way processes are implemented, rather than process changing culture. Thai culture is naturally inherent in Thai daily life and Thais bring that into their work information practices. The concepts of power in Thai culture contributes toward hierarchical forms of communication and hierarchical relationships between systems analysts and decision-making process in Thai software houses, especially during RE, where information systems (IS) requirements need to be established for further development. The research shows that power significantly influences the decision making process and the construction of social status between clients and systems analysts in Thailand. The hierarchical structure of Thai organisations also contributes to a bureaucratic, elongated decision-making process during information systems development (ISD). Understanding the influence of power in Thai culture on RE will assist multinational IS consulting organisations to select, adapt, better manage, or change RE process methodologies.

Knowledge based requirement engineering for one-of-a-kind complex systems

The success of requirement specification in new design projects largely depends on an accurate match between customer requirements and company product and process knowledge. Despite the recent developments in the domain there is still a lack of transparency and consistent definition and integration of the activities in requirement engineering (RE). There is also a lack of structured methods for capturing relevant enterprise knowledge and deploying it in support of decision making for requirement specification. This paper reports on the knowledge acquisition and sharing for requirement engineering (KARE) approach for requirement specification of one-of-a-kind complex systems. The approach provides a generic view of key RE processes clustered into three groups of activities: requirement elicitation, analysis and negotiation. The process is supported by a set of knowledge functions aimed at facilitating the requirement engineers in matching customer requirements to product characteristics. The reported research has been developed as part of the ESPRIT collaborative project KARE funded by the European Commission.

A COMPOSITIONAL KNOWLEDGE LEVEL PROCESS MODEL OF REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING

In current literature few detailed process models for Requirements Engineering are presented: usually high-level activities are distinguished, without a more precise specification of each activity. In this paper the process of Requirements Engineering has been analyzed using knowledge-level modelling techniques, resulting in a well-specified compositional process model for the Requirements Engineering task. This process model is considered to be a generic process model: it can be refined (by instantiation or specialisation) into a process model for a specific kind of Requirements Engineering process.

Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering: A Unifying Framework

The study of contemporary requirements engineering (RE) methodologies indicates that modelling of organisational goals constitutes a central activity of the RE process. In particular, goals provide the rationale and drivethe elaboration of the requirements that operationalise them. They also provide the criteria against which the completeness and correctness of the requirements specification is validated. In other words, requirements implement goals in the same way that programs implement design specifications. Despite the significance of goals in RE, research in the field is fragmented. No research has so far taken place in order to define the overall role that goals play in RE. This paper puts forward a unifying view of goal analysis in the context of RE. This allows the identification of similarities and differences between the different conceptions of goal used by different approaches and promotes the understanding of the overall role of goal analysis in RE. Based on this understanding the various approaches can be put together, thus leading to a stronger goal-driven RE framework that takes advantage of the contributions from the many streams of goal-oriented research.

EXAMINING NON-REPRESENTATION IN ENGINEERING NOTATIONS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE ONTOLOGICAL INCOMPLETENESS OF THE FUNCTIONALLY-RATIONAL MODELLING PARADIGM

The assumption that functionally rational notations can represent organisational spaces is central to engineering diagrammatical approaches in the delivery of advanced technology. This is reflected in a approach to notations which assumes objective, rationalistic ontologies. This form of rationalism in the modelling approach undermines notions of social context and social impact but, as such, has received little attention in the engineering literature to date. This paper opens the debate on research into notations and their relationship to sound method, suggesting that researchers need to rethink the ways in which the world is represented in engineering documentation, especially Requirements Engineering and Business Process Re-Engineering (BPRE). Empirical data from 9 companies and 48 people involved in manufacturing systems projects is presented which provides evidence for this position.

Exploring the cultural and social impacts on the requirements engineering processes ‐ highlighting some problems challenging virtual team relationships with clients

Requirements engineering is a crucial phase in software development. Software development in a virtual domain adds another dimension to the process of requirements engineering. There has been growing interest in virtual teams, and more specifically in virtual software development. While structured software development methods are the obvious first choice for project managers to ensure a virtual software development team remains on track, the social and cultural aspects of requirements engineering cannot be ignored. These social aspects are especially important across different cultures, and have been shown to affect the success of an information system. The discussion in this paper is centred around the requirements engineering processes of a virtual team in a Thai Software House. This paper explains the issues and challenges of requirements engineering in a virtual domain from a social and cultural perspective. Project managers need to encourage a balance between structured methods and social aspects in requirements engineering for virtual team members. Cultural and social aspects influence the relationship between the virtual team and the client.