Mission Critical Embedded System Development Process

The international agricultural research institute as a source of agricultural development

With the proliferation of embedded ubiquitous systems in all aspects of human life, the development of embedded systems has been facing more and more challenges (e.g., quality, time to market, etc.). Meanwhile, lots of software processes have been reported to be applied in Embedded Systems Development (ESD) with various advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it’s important to portrait a big picture of the state-of-the-practice of the adoption of the software processes in ESD, which may benefit both practitioners and researchers in this area. This paper presents our investigation on this topic using systematic review that is intended to: 1) identify typical challenging factors and how software processes and practices address them; and 2) discover improvement opportunities from both academic and industrial perspectives.

Tool integration in the context of embedded systems development and maintenance is challenging due to such systems' lengthy life cycles and adaptability to process specifications. The iFEST framework provides flexibility in development processes and extends support for long product life cycles.

Aiming at addressing difficulties in the development of embedded system, this paper proposes a new method. Based on the object-oriented concepts and by reference to the touching operating mode of the smart phones or tablet PCs, we achieved a new set of smart touching UI controls and device driver classes library in C# with the .NET Compact Framework environment. This method improves the programming efficiency of embedded system, greatly reducing the workload of programmers. Using this method, we have successfully developed a data acquisition and monitoring system based on the InsLink's iPC2016, the system is running for environmental monitoring.

Ponte Academic JournalAug 2017, Volume 73, Issue 8 An Effective Model for Testing Distributed Embedded Systems using Scaffolding MethodAuthor(s): SASTRY JKR ,K. Chaitanya, K Raja Sekhara Rao, DBK KameshJ. Ponte - Aug 2017 - Volume 73 - Issue 8 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2017.8.1 Abstract:Many methods are in use for undertaking comprehensive testing of standalone embedded systems. Many intricate aspects which include throughput, response time, signal patterns, are be tested to ensure that the embedded have been functioning properly. Distributed embedded systems are being used quite frequently these days for many purposes commencing from Automation of automobiles to Home appliances to home security systems. Some of the Distributed systems are being used for monitoring and controlling safety critical and mission critical systems. The mission and safety critical systems require thorough testing. Many additional aspects are to be considered for testing a distributed embedded system which include testing message flow, arbitration, synchronization Heterogeneity of distributed system, portability etc. This paper presents a Modified Scaffolding method for undertaking testing of a distributed embedded system which is built using many heterogeneous microcontroller based systems. The method has been used for testing a pilot distributed embedded system and the results obtained by undertaking the testing have shown that the bugs existing in the development of embedded system have been thoroughly exposed.. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

Canopies are major part of plant photosynthesis and have distinct architectural elements such as tree crowns, whorls, branches, shoots, etc. By measuring canopy structural parameters, the solar radiation interception, photosynthesis effects and the spatio-temporal distribution of solar radiation under the canopy can be evaluated. Among canopy structure parameters, Leaf Area Index (LAI) is the key one. Leaf area index is a crucial variable in agronomic and environmental studies, because of its importance for estimating the amount of radiation intercepted by the canopy and the crop water requirements. The LAI can be achieved by hemispheric images which are obtained below the canopy with high accuracy and effectiveness. But existing hemispheric images canopy-LAI measurement technique is based on digital SLR camera with a fisheye lens. Users need to collect hemispheric image manually. The SLR camera with fisheye lens is not suit for long-term canopy-LAI outdoor measurement too. And the high cost of SLR limits its capacity. In recent years, with the development of embedded system and image processing technology, low cost remote canopy hemispheric image acquisition technology is becoming possible. In this paper, we present a remote hemispheric canopy image acquisition system with in-field/host configuration. In-field node based on imbed platform, low cost image sensor and fisheye lens is designed to achieve hemispherical image of plant canopy at distance with low cost. Solar radiation and temperature/humidity data, which are important for evaluating image data validation, are obtained for invalid hemispherical image elimination and node maintenance too. Host computer interacts with in-field node by 3G network. The hemispherical image calibration and super resolution are used to improve image quality in host computer. Results show that the remote canopy image collection system can make low cost remote canopy image acquisition for LAI effectively. It will be a potential technology candidate for low-cost remote canopy hemispherical image collection to measure canopy LAI.

It is proposed a new approach based on a methodology, assisted by a tool, to create new products in the automobile industry based on previous defined processes and experiences inspired on a set of best practices or principles: it is based on high-level models or specifications; it is component-based architecture centric; it is based on generative programming techniques. This approach follows in essence the MDA (Model Driven Architecture) philosophy with some specific characteristics. We propose a repository that keeps related information, such as models, applications, design information, generated artifacts and even information concerning the development process itself (e.g., generation steps, tests and integration milestones). Generically, this methodology receives the users' requirements to a new product (e.g., functional, non-functional, product specification) as its main inputs and produces a set of artifacts (e.g., design parts, process validation output) as its main output, that will be integrated in the engineer design tool (e.g. CAD system) facilitating the work.

Despite the growing popularity and widespread use of serious games, the development of effective serious games is difficult, requiring an appropriate balance between game design and instructional design. Although there are fundamental differences between games developed purely for entertainment compared to those developed for “serious” purposes, there are currently no standard development tools specifically intended for serious game design and development available that encourage developers to follow a set of best practices. Rather, developers of serious games often rely on existing game engines and frameworks that are specific to entertainment-based game development. Given the availability of a large number of game engines and frameworks, deciding on which one to use to develop a serious game may be difficult, yet the choice of engine or framework can play a significant role in the development process. In this paper we present the results of a literature review that examined the frameworks and game engines that are used to develop serious games. We provide a list of the most commonly used frameworks and game engines and summarize their features. Knowledge of the frameworks and game engines that are most popular and details regarding why they are popular may prove to be useful to serious games developers seeking such tools. The chapter ends with a brief discussion regarding a framework that is currently being developed specifically for the development of serious games. Through consultation with the potential users of the framework (serious games developers), the framework aims to strike a balance between ease of use and functionality, while providing the user with the necessary options and tools to ideally develop effective serious games.

Agile development processes such as Scrum have been successfully applied in the software industry for many years. Based on experience, industrial practitioners indicate three predominant benefits of agile development processes compared to traditional software development processes. First of all, development results better fit customers’ and other stakeholders’ needs. That is because they are intensively involved in the development process by receiving, applying and assessing functional software increments in a defined cadence throughout the development process. Secondly, agile development processes better cope with unexpected changes in the development process due to the built-in process flexibility. Lastly, development speed has significantly increased in most of the agile software development projects, resulting in a shorter time-to-market. Especially in the context of radical innovations for technical systems, manufacturing companies are striving for approaches to optimize their development processes in a similar direction. Traditional plan-oriented development approaches such as VDI 2221 or Cooper’s Stage-Gate Process turn out to be insufficiently customer oriented, too inflexible and project duration is usually too long to reach an adequate time-to-market. For that reason, a large community in academia and industrial practice is developing and implementing approaches to adapt agile software development practices for the development of technical systems. However, a current study in industrial practice reveals that out of 23 objectives, that are expected when introducing agile development processes to technical systems, the three objectives mentioned above, show the largest negative deviations from expected benefit to realized benefit. Therefore, the overall goal of this research is to address these gaps by developing an explicit methodological approach for an agile development of technical systems. It turns out, that mainly the role of prototyping and the way product specifications are handled during the development process change significantly in the course of introducing agility to development of technical systems. Agile practitioners strive to not necessarily define product specifications comprehensively upfront, as it is postulated in plan-oriented development processes. In contrast, product specifications, which are of major importance to the overall development project, are specified and validated with customers and other stakeholders in early prototypes. Therefore, prototypes are realized in a defined cadence throughout the development process to gradually specify and validate the product. However, the way product specifications are prioritized and selected in the development of technical systems has to differ substantially from the general way Scrum or other existing agile development processes propose. That is because technical systems are characterized by multiple technical interrelations, resulting in informational dependencies for the development process. For that reason, a prioritization along criteria such as customer value, development effort and risk seems too narrow in the context of technical systems. In fact, the prioritization of product specifications has to consider both, the value being generated by their realization as well as the informational dependencies towards other specifications. Furthermore, when designing a prototype, time constraints need to be particularly considered due to lead times in parts delivery and prototype production. Therefore, this paper introduces a methodology to prioritize and select technical design parameters in agile development processes. The methodology can be applied in the cyclical sprint planning that aims at defining the scope of the next prototype to be developed. As outlined above, the major paradigms of value generation, informational dependencies as well as lead-time and effort are crucial when adapting agile for technical systems and are consequently implemented in the methodology. These paradigms are operationalized to explicitly address the mentioned major objectives of agile development processes, which are currently showing are large gap between expected benefit and realized benefit in industrial practice. The methodology is applied to the real development process of an RGB laser light source for digital cinema projectors, which is summarized as a case study in the paper. Insights from this application are equally discussed as the resulting next steps in further developing and aligning the methodology to the needs of industrial practice.

BackgroundThere is increasing recognition of the importance of sharing research data within the international scientific community, but also of the ethical and social challenges this presents, particularly in the context of structural inequities and varied capacity in international research. Public involvement is essential to building locally responsive research policies, including on data sharing, but little research has involved stakeholders from low-to-middle income countries.MethodsBetween January and June 2014, a qualitative study was conducted in Kenya involving sixty stakeholders with varying experiences of research in a deliberative process to explore views on benefits and challenges in research data sharing. In-depth interviews and extended small group discussions based on information sharing and facilitated debate were used to collect data. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis, and charting flow and dynamics in debates.FindingsThe findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges of communicating about this complex and relatively novel topic for many stakeholders. For more and less research-experienced stakeholders, ethical research data sharing is likely to rest on the development and implementation of appropriate trust-building processes, linked to local perceptions of benefits and challenges. The central nature of trust is underpinned by uncertainties around who might request what data, for what purpose and when. Key benefits perceived in this consultation were concerned with the promotion of public health through science, with legitimate beneficiaries defined differently by different groups. Important challenges were risks to the interests of study participants, communities and originating researchers through stigmatisation, loss of privacy, impacting autonomy and unfair competition, including through forms of intentional and unintentional 'misuse' of data. Risks were also seen for science.DiscussionGiven background structural inequities in much international research, building trust in this low-to-middle income setting includes ensuring that the interests of study participants, primary communities and originating researchers will be promoted as far as possible, as well as protected. Important ways of building trust in data sharing include involving the public in policy development and implementation, promoting scientific collaborations around data sharing and building close partnerships between researchers and government health authorities to provide checks and balances on data sharing, and promote near and long-term translational benefits.

The UKSG TRANSFER Code of Practice 2.01 was released in September 2008 with the goal of creating a set of voluntary industry best practices to ensure that journal transfers go smoothly and that users do not lose access to content when journals change ownership. Starting in April 2006, the UKSG TRANSFER Working Group undertook a lengthy process of analysing journal transfers and crafting a set of best practices to address the concerns of librarians, publishers, agents, societies and others. After much discussion and feedback, a concise, specific Code of Practice was developed. The Working Group decided to take a collaborative, positive approach with different stakeholders working together rather than focusing on prescriptive requirements with penalties attached which would have overly complicated the situation. The Code has seen good uptake and there are a number of ideas for how to take the work forward.

An important shortcoming in the Business Process Redesign (BPR) literature is the lack of concrete guidance on how to improve an existing business process. Our earlier work has aimed at filling this gap by identifying a set of BPR best practices. This paper takes a further step by showing how a set of best practices can be used to derive a redesign framework for a specific domain, in this case for call centers. Such a framework identifies the various available design options and specifies the relevant performance characteristics. To evaluate concrete design configurations (i.e., coherent combinations of design choices) we use a formal modelling approach based on Petri nets and the simulation tool CPN-Tools. An industrial case study is used to gather relevant context data. We expect that this work helps researchers and practitioners to optimize the performance of actual call centers and to set up similar frameworks for other domains.

Editorial

Person-centred end-of-life curriculum design in adult pre-registration undergraduate nurse education: A three-year longitudinal evaluation study

work of W. Edwards Deming has convinced industry that must first measure quality and then emphasise process to improve quality. In response to Deming's arguments and in light of perception that software industry is unable to produce quality products on schedule, and within budget, more software development organisations are now emphasising process measurement, monitoring, and assessment. This paper describes what is meant by software process and discusses an approach for its measurement and improvement. INTRODUCTION Unreliable software makes big news, from emergency services disasters to social security payment blunders. Improved software quality is essential to ensure reliable products and services, and gain customer satisfaction. While software development has existed for more than four decades, we failed so far to make as an industry and as an engineering discipline rather than craft. Developing reliable and usable software that is delivered on and within budget still represents difficult endeavour for many organisations. As role of software becomes increasingly critical for businesses as well as for human lives, problems caused by software products that are late, over budget, or that do not work, become magnified. If lives are lost or people inconvenienced due to incapable computer software, news media is there to make big stories. Organisations are realising that their fundamental problems is immaturity of their software process. Robert Lai (1993) proposes that process improvement is second maturity wave of software industry. He states that the first wave of software was developed using waterfall model in 1970's. Today we are Transactions on Information and Communications Technologies vol 8, © 1994 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3517 216 Software Management in midst of second wave maturity movement as we attempt to formally define development process and best ways to continuously improve it (Lai 1993). Taking lead in this area has been Watts Humphrey (Humphrey 1989, 1990, 1991), and Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. SEI started in 1986 to develop process maturity framework to help organisations appraise maturity of their software process, and to provide guidance for organisations to improve their software process capability. A brief description of framework was released in September 1987, including maturity questionnaire. SEI evolved model and questionnaire into 5 -Level Capability Maturity Model (CMM) in 1991. In February 1993, released CMM version 1.1 (Paulk et al 1993). This paper discusses software process and describes capability maturity model (CMM). It also shows how CMM can be used as basis to measure maturity of software process of an organisation and plan its improvement. SOFTWARE QUALITY AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT In his book Quality is Free Phil Crosby states that: Quality is free. It is not gift, is free. What cost money are unqualify of things all actions that involve not doing jobs right first time (Crosby 1980). If such statement is true for many disciplines, is particularly true for evidence is abundant in number of software products which exceeded their budget, were produced late, failed to satisfy user requirements, and are full of bugs. demand for improved software quality is increasing to ensure reliable products and services. benefits of improved quality comes in form of reduction in failure costs. For software projects failure costs include (DTI 1992): • costs of correcting defects, both before and after delivery • overruns against and budget • unnecessary high maintenance costs • indirect costs which users incur due to poor quality software link between process maturity and software quality is expressed in premise that The quality of software system is governed by quality of process used to develop and maintain it. One stumbling block to improving software quality seems to be that not enough attention is paid to overall development process itself. While software professionals typically devote their to developing, testing or documenting software products, no one has prime responsibility for improving software process. Experience has shown that if Transactions on Information and Communications Technologies vol 8, © 1994 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3517 Managing Systems 217 no one is working on software process, orderly improvement is unlikely. process certainly won't improve itself, rather, most likely, will deteriorate over time. Continuous improvement can occur only if process infrastructure is in place. Watts Humphrey argues in an early article published in Datamation, April 1989 that: Without work on process, there will be little or no progress in improving software. THE SOFTWARE PROCESS Adopting process view of software development represents revolutionary change in perspective. A process orientation to software development involves elements of structure, focus, measurement, ownership, skills, and supporting technology. In this section we investigate what is meant by software process. What Is Software Process According to Webster's dictionary, process is a system of operations in producing something .. series of actions, changes, or functions that achieve an end result. Chambers Concise Dictionary defines process as a series of actions or events .. sequence of operations or changes undergone. IEEE defines process as a sequence of steps performed for given purpose. In general business context, process is defined as a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce specified output for particular customer or market (Davenport 1993). These definitions put strong emphasis on HOW work is done, in contrast to product focus's emphasis on WHAT. Accordingly, process can be considered as a specific ordering of work activities across and place, with beginning, an end, and clearly identified inputs and outputs: structure for action. In this paper we will adopt following definitions quoted in (Humphrey 1990, Paulk et al 1993) are intended to encompass software throughout its life, which covers new development, enhancement, and repair. software process is The set of activities, methods, and practices used in production and evolution of software. software engineering process is The total set of software engineering activities needed to transform user's requirements into software. Transactions on Information and Communications Technologies vol 8, © 1994 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3517 218 Software Management People and Software Process Software development is still people-intensive activity. Talented people are most important element in any software organisation. Even if you get best people available, if they do not follow common process, if everyone wrote in different programming languages, used different conventions, or didn't co-ordinate their design and code changes with their peers, results will be chaos. Successful software organisations have learned that even best professionals need structured and disciplined environment in which to do cooperative work. Software organisations that do not establish such disciplines condemn their people to endless hours of repetitively solving technically trivial problems. obvious fact is that attracting best people is vital, but is also essential to support them with an effectively managed software process. Technology and Software Process Another myth is widespread belief that some technologically advanced tool or method will provide magic answer to software crisis. This is not only wrong, but is dangerous. Organisations which jumped on bandwagon of CASE tools, and ended up in failure and wasted and effort have learned their lesson hard way. Just ask yourself before introducing technology: What do I want to automate? In absence of defined, practised, and managed process, introducing automation can lead to increased chaos. There are several factors which limit effective use of software technology: an illdefined process, inconsistent process implementation, and poor process management. Software technology cannot be fully effective until these problems have been properly addressed. Need for Defined Process If no effort is made to define and enhance software development process across whole organisation, each software development project latches on to its own tools, methods, and practices with little guidance available on how to use them. This ad hoc approach will not be sufficient to tackle task of developing complex software systems. goal of software process management is to enable organisations to produce software that meets cost, schedules, and quality objectives. principles are same that underpins statistical process control-principles that have been successfully used in controlling scientific experiments and in high -volume manufacturing operations. Statistical concepts have been found to be just as applicable to software development as they are to production of manufactured goods such as motor cars. Applying such concepts will only be possible if there is defined and managed process. Software Process Models Transactions on Information and Communications Technologies vol 8, © 1994 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3517