Topic: Software Requirements Specification for the Antarctica Life Support Facility
Instruction guide for the Software Requirements Specification (SRS)
I read carefully your SRS draft. I am very pleased with your requirements. You are on the right track. Yet; there are definitely potential for improvements. Here are detailed comments:
** 3.1.5 30% of the LSF budget shall go to small businesses through manpower or hardware procurement. -how do you define a small business?
** 3.4.10 Shelters shall be provided for necessary maintenance and repair to the drilling and coring -what are the necessary maintenance types?
** 3.4.13 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall provide safety measures. -what are these?
** 3.5.14 The Communication subsystem shall have a reliable mean time between failures (MTBF). -this is unverifiable requirement. What is "reliable" means? The same comment applies to "Provides reliable communication with the external team based in US research Lab." and "Has sufficient capacity to support all units of the LSF simultaneously." for example.
** Remember to include the traceability matrix in the final SRS.
Over all great work. Please continue on requirements refinement + checking for consistency and ambiguity across the SRS; and you will be up to a great final SRS document at the end.
As you prepare for the final SRS to be submitted, here are some items to keep in mind:
• Don't forget to rank the requirements - either provide a rank in line, or a summary of rankings somewhere.
• Don't forget the tractability matrix!!
• Check for requirements consistency along your SRS. Multiple requirements may come from multiple team members. This put the SRS under a risk of having requirements conflict or redundancy! You definitely need to check for that.
• Avoid vague requirements - you have to be able to demonstrate compliance with them. At the same time, too much specificity reduces flexibility - you need to find an appropriate balance and document your rationale.
• Don't build solutions/designs into the requirements. Rather, specify behavioral characteristics and performance, but not how to achieve them.
• Don't put legislative matters (e.g. pricing structure, policies) into a functional specification. You can place them under constraints. You can't control what a state or federal government will do in terms of policy.
• Some form of contextual description for the system, say, a use case or context diagram might help. In other words it is helpful to some kind of representation of where the system resides, what other entities it interacts with so that the system boundaries are clearly defined.
• Be careful in defining specific deadlines for actions. This is a good thing to do but it is very helpful to provide a rationale for the deadline (where does the deadline come from?) Having a rationale will help if the deadline needs to be relaxed or changed in the future.
If you keep doing the "IEEE 830" analysis ...you should be ok.
The draft of the SRS for the Antarctic Life Support Facility (ALSF)
I will need more explanation and improvement on the following sections of the Software Requirements Specification (SRS)for the Antarctic Life Support Facility (ALSF).
3.4 Drilling and Coring Handling
Drilling and Coring Handling are key factors for the team of scientists to complete their mission in Antarctica.
3.4.1 All drilling and coring equipment shall be able to go a minimum of three months without significant maintenance required.
3.4.2 All drilling and coring equipment shall be able to survive from -81 degree F to 50 degree F and winds in excess of 60 MPH.
3.4.3 All drilling and coring equipment shall utilize COTs as often as feasible.
3.4.4 All drilling and coring on site equipment shall have health and status monitoring capabilities.
3.4.5 All drilling and coring equipment shall be transportable by ski equipped LC-130 or C-130 Hercules aircraft, land, or helicopter.
3.4.6 All drilling and coring equipment shall be provided with training materials and user manuals.
3.4.7 All researchers shall be able to operate all drilling and coring equipment or machinery while wearing gloves.
3.4.8 Operation and maintenance of drilling and coring equipment shall not violate OSHA policies.
3.4.9 All drilling and coring equipment shall not produce excessive waste or use fossil fuels unless necessary.
3.4.10 Shelters shall be provided for necessary maintenance and repair to the drilling and coring equipment and machines.
3.4.11 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall provide adequate storage and transportation of ice cores.
3.4.12 The drilling equipment shall include tools, spare parts, and fuel necessary to keep the drilling machine in working order.
3.4.13 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall provide safety measures.
3.4.14 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall enhance energy efficiency through adaptive controls and interfaces.
3.4.15 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall have a reliable mean time between failures (MTBF).
3.4.16 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall stop all activities and perform emergency evacuation when fire occurs in the site.
3.4.17 The Drilling and Coring Handling subsystem shall have a help function associated with all user entry possibilities.
3.4.18All drilling and coring equipment shall be stored in LSF.
3.5 Communication
Communication is a key factor for the team of scientists to complete their mission in Antarctica.
3.5.1 All communication equipment shall be able to go a minimum of three months without significant maintenance required.
3.5.2 All communication equipment shall be able to survive from -81 degree F to 50 degree F and winds in excess of 60 MPH.
3.5.3 All communication equipment shall utilize COTs as often as feasible.
3.5.4 All communication on site equipment shall have health and status monitoring capabilities.
3.5.5 All communication equipment shall be transportable by ski equipped LC-130 or C-130 Hercules aircraft, land, or helicopter.
3.5.6 All communication equipment shall be provided with training materials and user manuals.
3.5.7 All researchers shall be able to operate all communication equipment or machinery while wearing gloves.
3.5.8 Operation and maintenance of communication equipment shall not violate OSHA policies.
3.5.9 All communication subsystems shall have backups, redundant power supplies, and secondary control methods.
3.5.10 The Communication subsystem shall support communication among scientific equipment used in the field.
3.5.11 Voice, data, and video communication shall be capable of reaching the US based laboratories as well as the McMurdo station.
3.5.12 The Communication subsystem shall provide accurate programming languages that is to be used.
3.5.13 The Communication subsystem shall enhance energy efficiency through adaptive controls and interfaces.
3.5.14 The Communication subsystem shall have a reliable mean time between failures (MTBF).
3.5.15 The Communication subsystem shall stop all activities and perform emergency evacuation when fire occurs in the site.
3.5.16 The Communication and Coring Handling subsystem shall have a help function associated with all user entry possibilities.