Requirements Engineering for Consensus-Oriented Technical Specifications

Technical standards are established as a kind of norm or general requirement with respect to the development of technical systems. They shall ensure a uniform way of engineering, to gain benefits when it comes to product comparability, interoperability, assurance of product quality, reliability, safety, and similar properties. Usually, technical standards are developed iteratively, where text documents are used as work products which are subject to continuous negotiations. In this paper, we retrace the requirement-driven development process of the Distributed Co-Simulation Protocol (DCP) specification. It is the main output of the ACOSAR ("Advanced Co-Simulation Open System Architecture") project. The DCP focuses on the integration of real-time systems into simulation environments. Therefore it poses a significant contribution to development and test of many technical systems. Typical examples are automotive advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), test beds for vehicles and engines, as well as components like electronic control units (ECU). The DCP specification is intended for standardization with a recognized standardization body. Unlike most other technical standards, the DCP specification was engineered on the foundation of written requirements, formulated by an inhomogeneous group of stakeholders. This paper highlights the applied development process, provides examples of requirements, and reports the overall outcome, including benefits and drawbacks.