Abstract
The goal of the GUARDS project is to design and develop a generic fault-tolerant computer architecture that can be built from predefined standardised components. The architecture favours the use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software components. However, the assessment and selection of COTS components is a non-trivial task as it requires balancing a myriad of requirements from end-users and the preliminary architecture design. In this paper, we present the requirements and assessment criteria for a specific COTS software component, the operating system kernel. As an interface specification constitutes a major compatibility criterion for the selection of COTS components in GUARDS, a particular emphasis is placed on operating system conformance to the POSIX 1003.1 standard. We discuss the general lessons learned from the assessment process and raise a number of questions relevant to the assessment of any COTS software component.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
IEEE. Portable operating system interface: Part 1: System application program interface (API) [C language]. IEEE Std 1003.1, 1990
IEEE. Portable operating system interface: Amendment 1: Realtime extension [C language]. IEEE Std 1003.1b, 1993
IEEE. Portable operating system interface: Amendment 2: Threads extension [C language]. IEEE Std 1003.1c, 1995
Gallmeister BO. POSIX.4. O’Reilly & Associates, 1995
Finkelstein A, Spanoudakis G, et al. Software package requirements and procurement. In: 8th international workshop on software specification and design. IEEE CS Press, 1996
Beus-Dukic L, Wellings A. Time-related dependability mechanisms in GUARDS. In: Proceedings of the DASIA’98 conference on data systems in aerospace, Athens, Greece, 2528, May 1998 (SP-422, July 1998). ESA publications Division, 1998, pp 3353–40
Sinclair IJ. The use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software in safety-related applications. HSE Contract Research Report 80/195, 1995
Arlat J. Preliminary definition of the GUARDS validation strategy, LAAS-CNRS Report 96378, GUARDS Report D3A1/AO/5002/E. 1997
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beus-Dukic, L., Wellings, A. Requirements for a COTS software component: A case study. Requirements Eng 3, 115–120 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919971
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02919971