SYSE 573 Requirements Engineering

This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to translate needs and priorities into system requirements, and develop derived requirements, which together form the starting point for engineering of complex hardware, software systems. The student will develop an understanding of the larger context in which requirements for a system are developed, and learn about trade-offs between developing mission needs or market opportunities first versus assessing available technology first. Techniques for translating needs and priorities into an operational concept and then into specific functional and performance
requirements will be presented. The student will assess and improve the usefullness of requirements, including such aspects as correctness, completeness, consistency, measurability, testability, and clarity of documentation. Case studies, many involving software-intensive systems, will be used. Prerequisite: SYSE 591 Systems Engineering Approach or SYSC 513 Systems Approach or Consent of Instructor.

Topical Outline:

1.0 The Context of Requirements
1.1 Mission of Organizations
1.2 Origins of the Need to Develop or Modify A System
1.3 Stakeholders

2.0 The Start of Requirements
2.1 Specific Mission Needs and Market Opportunities
2.2 Understanding the Capabilities of Technology
2.3 Developing a System Operational Concept
2.4 Prioritizing Functional and Performance Needs

3.0 Developing Requirements
3.1 Writing a Functional Requirement
3.2 Writing a Performance Requirement
3.3 Interfaces and Requirements
3.4 Sources of Derived Requirements
3.5 How To Derive Requirements

4.0 Checking the Usefulness of Requirements
4.1 Checking Requirements Correctness
4.2 Checking Requirements Completeness
4.3 Checking Requirements Consistency
4.4 Checking Requirements Measurability
4.5 Checking Requirements Testability
4.6 Checking Requirements for Clarity and Lack of Ambiguity

5.0 Communicating Requirements
5.1 Common Mechanisms for Communicating Requirements
5.2 Risks Related to Requirements, and How to Manage Them
5.3 Using Communication Mechanisms to Involve Stakeholders

6.0 Changing Requirements and Reaching Closure
6.1 Why Requirements Change Is Inevitable
6.2 Choices in Managing Requirements Change
6.3 Some Mechanisms for Managing Requirements Changes
6.4 Satisfying Requirements
6.5 Unsatisfied Requirements and Desirements as Market Opportunities

7.0 Case Studies and Student Projects

Number of exams, projects: The course will have a series of exams, so that students can evaluate how effectively they are mastering the material, as well as a number of small project assignments on which students will apply the knowledge they are acquiring, and one large project on which the students will be asked to demonstrate mastery of the skills and knowledge the course is intended to teach. .