Architecting software for complex embedded systems : quality attribute based approach to openness

Abstract

There has been such an increase in the complexity of systems embedded in modern industrial robots, construction equipment, cars, trains, systems in telecommunication networks etc. that the engineering of such systems requires the coordinated efforts of tens or hundreds of engineers. These engineering efforts are multidisciplinary, requiring software engineers, control engineers, hardware engineers etc. to work together in the design and implementation of the systems concerned. Many have a lifetime of 10-20 years which means that their maintenance must be carefully planned. Furthermore, most of the systems can be classified as safety-critical or dependable systems. The importance of software in complex embedded systems is increasing and software quality issues are becoming first level concerns. One of the keys to success in industry in the future will be the ability to develop high-quality embedded systems and their software on time in order to remain competitive. The complexity and size of these systems requires a systematic approach to software architecture analysis and design. To advance research in this area, we need to improve our understanding of software architecting for these systems. Among the disadvantages of current methods of software architecture design are that they target "pure" software systems and that they make simplifying assumptions that software architecture design of embedded systems begins from a well-defined, fixed list of requirements for a software subsystem.