Requirements patterns for embedded systems

In software engineering, design patterns propose solution skeletons for common design problems. The solution skeleton is described in such a way that the design can be used for other projects, where each application tailors the design to specific project constraints. This paper describes research into investigating how a similar approach to reuse can be applied to requirements specifications, which we term requirements patterns. Specifically, the paper explores how object-oriented modeling notations, such as the Unified Modeling Language (UML), can be used to represent common requirements patterns. Structural and behavioral information are captured as part of a requirements pattern. In order to maximise reuse, we focus on requirements patterns for embedded systems. This paper also describes case studies that illustrate how we have applied these general patterns to multiple embedded systems applications from the automotive industry.