In today’s practical reality there are many different tools being used in their respective phases of the system development lifecycle. Every tool employs its own underlying meta model and these meta models tend to vary greatly in size and complexity, making them difficult to integrate.
One solution to overcome this problem is to build a tool integration framework that is based on a single, shared metamodel. The iFEST project aims to specify and develop such a tool integration framework for tools used in the development of heterogeneous and multi-core embedded systems. This framework is known as the iFEST Tool Integration Framework or iFEST IF.
The iFEST IF uses Web services based on the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC)standards and specifications to make the tools within the tool chain communicate with each other.
To validate the framework, an industrial case study called ‘Wind Turbine’, using several embedded systems tools, has been carried out. Tools used to design, implement and test a controller for a wind turbine have been integrated in a prototype tool chain. To expose tools’ internal data through Web services, a tooladaptor is needed.
This work reports on the development of such a tool adaptor for the Requirements Management module of HP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), one of the tools used in the Wind Turbine industrial case study. A generalization of the challenges faced while developing the tool adaptor is made.
These challenges indicate that, despite having a tool integration framework, tool integration can still be a difficult task with many obstacles to overcome. Especially when tools are not developed with tool integration in mind from the start.
Source: Mälardalen University
Author: Wolvers, Adrianus Hendrikus Cornelis
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