A concurrent engineering process for embedded systems development: Licentiate thesis

Concurrent engineering is a systematic approach to product development that aims at shorter development times, early problem identification, better product quality, and less time devoted to re-design of a product. The goal of this thesis is to illustrate the role of concurrent engineering in embedded systems development and present enabling technologies for managing the concurrent engineering process. Modelling and customisation of a concurrent, model-based development process of embedded systems improves the effectiveness of the process and increases communication and visibility between people and disciplines. The proposed process model describes how concurrent engineering principles can be utilised in embedded systems development for early validation with the help of a modern simulation and prototyping environment. Development process automation is a vehicle to manage the complexities of concurrent development, relieve developers and managers of as much tedium as possible and guide process-critical tasks. Formal enactable process modelling with the help of a Petri net based process support environment is used to model and execute concurrent engineering type development activities. Redoing is a mechanism to support the increased need for change management and propagation in a concurrent engineering process. The technique is based on semi-automatic capturing and re-enactment of the design process at a very detailed level. It supports the traditional configuration management and version control practices by eliminating inconsistencies within a concurrent development process. With the help of redoing tools it is possible to make updating early specification and design models so easy that changes can be introduced where they should be and not patched to the implementation. The model-based process shows how the concurrency of the development process can be increased and communication problems between developers can be alleviated with the help of prototyping tools that make the construction of complete system models possible already during the early stages of development. Modelling the concurrent engineering process to a computer-enactable level takes time and effort, but it pays back in terms of better understanding, enhanced communication between development team members and more rigourous project planning and monitoring. The modelling effort should focus on finding the balance between a rigourously controlled and easily monitored development process, and a loosely defined often ad hoc development process that does not restrict the creativity and intuition of the developers.