Requirements Tracing to Support Change in Dynamically Adaptive Systems

[Context and motivation]

All systems are susceptible to the need for change, with the desire to operate in changeable environments driving the need for software adaptation. A Dynamically Adaptive System (DAS) adjusts its behaviour autonomously at runtime in order to accommodate changes in its operating environment, which are anticipated in the system’s requirements specification.

[Question/Problem]

In this paper, we argue that Dynamic Adaptive Systems’ requirements specifications are more susceptible to change than those of traditional static systems. We propose an extension to i* strategic rationale models to aid in changing a DAS.

[Principal Ideas/Results]

By selecting some of the types of tracing proposed for the most complex systems and supporting them for DAS modelling, it becomes possible to handle change to a DAS’ requirements efficiently, whilst still allowing artefacts to be stored in a Requirements Management tool to mitigate additional complexity.

[Contribution]

The paper identifies different classes of change that a DAS’ requirements may be subjected to, and illustrates with a case study how additional tracing information can support the making of each class of change.