Description of 20/30397759 DC 2020

This document is a specialization of the more general reference model for Software and Systems product line engineering and management, ISO/IEC 26550. The specialization defined herein addresses a class of methods and tools referred to as Feature-based Software and Systems Product Line Engineering, or Feature-based PLE, which has emerged as a proven and repeatable product line engineering and management (PLE) practice supported by commercial tool providers.

The scope of this document is to:

1. provide the terms and definitions specific to Feature-based PLE;

2. define how Feature-based PLE is a specialization within the general ISO/IEC 26550 reference model for Product Line Engineering and Management;

3. define a reference model for the overall structure and processes of Feature-based PLE and describe how the elements of the reference model fit together;

4. define interrelationships, and methods for applying the elements and tools of the product line reference model;

5. define required and supporting tool capabilities.

In this document, products of Feature-based PLE include digital work products that support the engineering of a system. Some of the artefacts are actually part of the delivered products, while other artefacts can be non-deliverable, such as physical or digital design models.

The intended audience for this document comprises:

1. technology providers who wish to provide automated tool support for the reference model and processes described in this document;

2. champions within an organization who wish to introduce Feature-based PLE throughout that organization;

3. IT staff within a PLE organization who will introduce and maintain the necessary technology to support Feature-based PLE;

4. practitioner stakeholders who will use the provided technology to practice Feature-based PLE;

5. technical and business managers who will sponsor and direct the methods necessary to practice Feature-based PLE;

6. university professors, researchers, corporate trainers, and other educators who will create and share pedagogical materials about Feature-based PLE and its benefits.

This document embodies a distinct separation of concerns between the Feature-based PLE technology providers (the first bullet in the audience list above) and Feature-based technology users (the last four bullets in the audience list). For each of these stakeholder concerns, the scope of this document is to define only what is necessary and sufficient to enable Feature-based PLE practice. For technology providers, this imparts flexibility in how the necessary and sufficient technical capabilities are provided, as well as the opportunity to offer more expansive capabilities that are possible in an ideal solution. For technology users, this provides flexibility to select among the technology providers and to apply the methods that best match their technical and business objectives for Feature-based PLE.

This document, including the product line reference model and the terms and definitions, has been produced starting from the general approach outlined in reference [10]. In addition to this background work, lifecycle models from ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207 and ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 have been used as a baseline.

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