8 Part 8: Annex
8.1 Method References
8.1.4 Design Verification
Usage
Preparing Hardware Architecture, Preparing Software Architecture, Preparing System Architecture, Performing and Evaluating Safety and Security Analysis
Reference
Purpose
The aim of the design verification is to furnish a mathematically exact proof that the refined specification continues to meet the requirements of the initial specification. It uses the tools of formal logic to verify that a formal specification (refined specification) is a refinement of the initial specification and that also it meets all requirements for the initial specification. A specification is refined by a further detailing and concretization of the statements and conditions.
For the design verification the following methods may be used:
Software Architecture Analysis Method (SAAM)
SAAM is one of the simpler methods for scenario-based architecture evaluation, which was the first to be published. SAAM is suitable for the testing of software architectures with regard to quality attributes (qualitative requirements), such as
- Modifiability,
- Portability,
- Growth Potential,
- Performance,
- Reliability,
but also for the evaluation of the functionality (functional requirements) of a software architecture. In a SAAM evaluation basically scenarios are developed, prioritized and assigned to those parts of the software architecture to be tested that are affected by them. This may be sufficient to indicate problems in the architecture.
Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)
ATAM is used to review the design decisions of the architecture. It is checked whether the design decisions satisfactorily support the requirements concerning quality. Risks and compromises included in the architecture are identified and documented.
The process includes two phases. In the first phase the necessary components are presented. Then the architecture is checked and analyzed. In the second phase it is tested whether the analysis and the test were correct and complete. Then the results are summed up.