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Helping manufacturers stay competitive as they use embedded software to add creative new features to their products
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The manufacturing industry has evolved into a complex network of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), specialized suppliers and even specialized suppliers to suppliers. Due to these changes in the organizational model, product development methods now rely heavily on component integration.
Among the latest changes is the increasing reliance on embedded software, which is used to manage complex mechanical and electronic components, and to implement unique new product functions and features. Automobiles, airplanes, cell phones — even toys — depend more and more on the use of such embedded software.
The race for companies to win customers with exciting technical features and enter new crossover fields — cell phones that take photographs, for example — is fueling the need for embedded software. And with more competitors, more suppliers and ever-higher expectations from customers, there’s no end in sight.
Many companies, however, are saddled with dated development methods and are not properly prepared for the intense interaction and cooperation required among designers, including mechanical, electrical, hardware and software engineers. Even in state-of-the-art facilities, embedding software into new products can complicate, lengthen and add cost to the development process, as well as slow time to market, as individuals in disparate engineering disciplines struggle to understand each other, align their methodologies and keep pace with aggressive timetables.
Working with manufacturers to help address these overlapping issues, IBM Research has developed an innovative yet practical approach to integrated systems design (ISD), which adapts successful software engineering methods to complex product development projects. ISD introduces formal methodologies and tools that can support collaboration and communication in the very earliest stages of design, when many important decisions about product development are made.
ISD support for collaborative activities continues throughout the development life cycle, with a combination of iterative requirements-driven methodologies, model-driven development and a novel approach to managing system data across discipline boundaries.
Among the exciting innovative aspects of IBM’s ISD approach is the use of Systems Modeling Language (SysML), a new, visual modeling language based on UML (Unified Modeling Language) that gives engineers in different disciplines a common way to represent artifacts such as system elements, requirements and simulations, as well as the relationships among those artifacts. In addition to helping lead the standardization effort with key contributions to the definition of this new language, IBM has developed a number of proprietary extensions that further assist in the modeling of complex development processes.
Another novel dimension is related to capturing process knowledge to help facilitate more effective interdisciplinary collaborations. The System Data Management (SDM) component of ISD is designed to support collaboration and help maintain the integrity of a system defined by a set of artifacts concurrently authored by multiple teams. In SDM, artifact references are bundled together with information about the processes entailed in the collaboration, allowing for effective traceability and reuse of inter-disciplinary activities.
Components of IBM’s ISD concept have been prototyped in collaboration with BMW Car IT GmbH in the context of modeling complex driver assistance systems. Broader prototypes are also being explored in various industries, such as automotive, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense.
To find out more about IBM’s promising ISD approach and how IBM can help streamline your development process, contact IBM Research Services today.