Cause-effect validation of requirements for distributed systems.

In this thesis we propose a requirement validation technique based on the Cause-Effect Graphing (CEG) technique. Originally, the CEG technique, proposed by Elmendorf (Elme73) as a black-box testing technique, was used to derive test cases from an informal specification to test the corresponding implementation. The test cases obtained from this method are correct only if the requirements are correct in the first place. Therefore, a technique is required to validate the requirements themselves. The key contribution of this thesis is a framework and methodology for employing the Cause-Effect Graphing approach as a technique for validation of specifications especially in the context of distributed systems. This technique has also been extended to apply to distributed software. The extension has given rise to the Extended Cause-Effect Graphing (ECEG) technique where we use scenarios as an effective means of checking network behaviors against customer expectations. Our ECEG approach has been validated by case studies of telephony features. In these case studies, we give some examples of instances of undesirable scenarios, such as feature interactions, which were derived directly from customer specifications, thus demonstrating that major problems in requirements definitions can be detected and corrected even before software design begins. This validation approach is based on heuristics which in turn are based on a limited survey of the practices in the application domain. A key benefit of this approach is that scenarios can be derived automatically from the CEG based on path sensitization, an idea borrowed from the world of Integrated Circuits verification methods. A tool prototype has also been developed on the Macintosh and Sun Workstation environments.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Ottawa (Canada)

Year dc:date

2009

Author dc:creator

• Nursimulu, Khenaidoo.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Probert, Robert L.,

• Computer Science.

Identifier

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 33-05, page: 1538.
9780315960114
http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-16800

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/10377