Bridging the Gap between Systems and Software Engineering by Using the SPES Modeling Framework as a General Systems Engineering Philosophy

A multitude of disciplines is involved in the engineering of embedded systems. One major challenge of engineering these systems is to consider the synchronization between different engineering disciplines on the process and artifact level in a coherent manner. Process standards address this challenge by defining a transition between the involved activities of the disciplines but they do not provide sufficient support with respect to the corresponding artifacts and their relationships. The missing artifact-oriented integration of the engineering disciplines (e.g. electrical engineering, software engineering, and mechanical engineering) within the systems engineering process leads to error-prone and cost-intensive synchronizations. In recent years, we participate in a consortium of more than twenty partners from academia and industry that jointly developed the SPES (Software Platform Embedded Systems) Modeling Framework (SPES MF) to support a seamless artifact-based engineering of software for embedded systems. In this paper, we present an approach that fosters the close integration of systems engineering and software engineering activities based on ISO/IEC 15288 and ISO/IEC 12207, by using the core concepts of the SPES MF as a general engineering philosophy for the architectural design of embedded systems.