Incremental Development of Real-Time Requirements: The Light Control Case Study

Graeme Smith (Software Verification Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia)

Colin Fidge (Software Verification Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia)

Abstract: System requirements frequently change while the system is still under development. Usually this means going back and revising the requirements specification and redoing those development steps already completed. In this article we show how formal requirements can be allowed to evolve while system development is in progress, without the need for costly redevelopment. This is done via a formalism which allows requirements engineering steps to be interleaved with formal development steps in a manageable way. The approach is demonstrated by a significant case study, the Light Control System.

Keywords: embedded systems, formal specification, real-time systems, refinement, requirements engineering

Categories: C.3, D.2.1, D.2.4, J.7