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Defining Specifications for Automated Control Systems By using a Formal Specification Method to define more accurate system requirements, ENEL has significantly reduced overall development effort for their automated control systems.
ENEL, the second largest electricity producer world-wide, relies heavily on external suppliers for the development of their software-intensive systems. Typically, the design, coding, testing and integration stages of an application's life-cycle are subcontracted out. More often than not, the quality and efficiency of the supplier's work depend on the client's specifications. ENEL is therefore introducing a Formal Specification Method in order to better define their system requirements and reduce costs during the implementation and acceptance phases.
In ENEL's classical approach to software development, experts typically spent considerable lengths of time in consultation with external suppliers, test plans were rarely made until the design and coding stages, and the majority of errors in the initial specification and design were not identified until the final system validation. This ad-hoc approach has cost ENEL dearly, both in terms of man-power costs, project completion time and product quality. In order to introduce a Formal Specification Method, ENEL adopted a new tool TRIO (Tempo Reale Implicito) based on a logical object-oriented language (OOTRIO) and supported by a set of tools devoted to editing and verification/validation activities. By producing clearly defined subsets of the software specification, the TRIO tools are able to trace any incorrect definition, interpretation or implementation of a specification directly to its source. Moreover, this modular approach enables many specification subsets to be reused, reducing maintenance requirements for a developed system. Another advantage of the TRIO Test Case Generator is its ability to verify specification components and produce suitable test plans prior to the design and coding phases.
In order to quantify the benefits of introducing TRIO, two projects of similar size were monitored, one using the TRIO tool, and another using ENEL's classic development approach and methods. TRIO was first applied to the development of an automated control system for hydroelectric power systems.
The results have proved encouraging. By using TRIO, ENEL were able to reduce project costs by 18% because less effort was required over the complete development cycle. So, while the amount of effort during the specification phase increased by 70%, this was completely out weighed by the reductions in the time and resources needed for design, coding and acceptance phases. Furthermore, as staff become more familiar with the TRIO tool, the effort needed during specification will begin to drop and further cost reductions will be possible. ENEL also found that using a tool such as TRIO can support project management and improve their relationship with suppliers. For example, by providing a more precise estimation of the effort needed in design, implementation and validation phases, TRIO enables more accurate scheduling of activities. Furthermore, client and supplier responsibilities become better defined and overall number of errors found in the acceptance phase are reduced.
tel +39-2-722-45551 -- fax +39-2-722-45525
e-mail crivelli@cra.enel.it
Research Area European Systems and Software Initiative
Project ELSA 10453
Keywords control systems, embedded; formal specification methods; object-oriented design; software specification tools;
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