Systems engineers gain UML functionality: News from I-Logix Europe

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I-Logix has brought use case diagrams into the systems engineering process. Building on I-Logix expansive experience with systems engineering and the Unified Modelling Language (UML), the company has added UML-compliant use case diagrams to Statemate Magnum 3.1, providing engineers with the most comprehensive systems engineering tool available. Statemate Magnum 3.1 will make its debut at the UK Embedded Systems Show in London, 15th-16th May 2002.

The addition of the use case diagrams, in combination with sequence diagrams and statecharts already present in Statemate Magnum, provide systems engineers with the complete set of UML views required for requirements capture and analysis.

The use case diagram enables users to graphically capture the specific uses that a system will perform, define the interaction of the system with external systems or people, and then provide textual descriptions and attributes for each usage.

In addition, the system engineer has the ability to graphically define scenarios that are later used to test the system design and final implementation.

use case diagrams may be linked to Statemate Magnum activity charts, allowing the user to quickly build an executable behavioural model that can be linked to automatically generated GUIs for simulation.

These executable use case models enable the systems engineer to see how the system will operate under a particular scenario.

The combination of UML views, asynchronous simulation, and graphical GUI development within Statemate Magnum make it the most powerful and easy to use tool on the market for the graphical capture and dynamic analysis of system requirements.

"EADS Deutschland, as partner in the four nations Eurofighter programme, will use Statemate Magnum in an advanced system design process for the Eurofighter upgrade programs to significantly increase process performance.

As a major feature, the process introduces the UML notations of use case and sequence diagrams in a requirements capture and analysis driven phase, prior to system functional and architectural design", said Dr Wolfgang Mansel, Chief Engineer Software Technology Military Aircraft, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company - EADS.

"The new Statemate Magnum 3.1 release is the right product to meet our requirements for efficient and seamless support of the development process of large and complex avionic systems.

We expect further benefits from the new Statemate Magnum release due to the tool's inherent ability to link design information with model execution, as well as from its integration with Doors for requirements management and traceability".

Statemate Magnum is a graphical design, simulation and prototyping tool for the rapid development of complex embedded systems.

It enables engineers to graphically capture their system requirements, specifications and designs using a combination of UML and traditional functional design notations.

The Statemate Magnum graphical language is easily understood by customers and implementation teams, enabling a true concurrent engineering process.

Engineers are able to simulate the graphical model, allowing them to visualize the design while they operate, debug and validate that it functions and behaves correctly.

Test cases can be recorded during simulation that can later be used to verify the implementation meets the requirements and the specification.

This is done up front during the requirements capture and specification phase of the design process, virtually guaranteeing that designs satisfy customer and marketing requirements, before actually building the physical prototype or production unit.

Statemate Magnum automatically generates documentation, provides corporate re-use of system models, and enables seamless integration with leading requirements traceability and configuration management tools through an open API.

As a result, Statemate Magnum has emerged as the standard for complex embedded system development within the aerospace, defence and automotive industries.

"The Systems Process R and D Team in BAE Systems Warton has been working with I-Logix for several years to promote the use of Statemate Magnum within the air programmes business and help develop improved functionality of the toolset.

The implementation of use cases, the idea for which was conceived by this team, is seen as an excellent example of user/vendor collaboration", said Mark Kehoe - (Acting) Head of Systems Process R and D Team - Air Programmes Engineering at BAE Systems.

"Use cases, in conjunction with sequence diagrams and statecharts will allow us to adopt the tool as part of the many design process improvement exercises we are currently developing for our complex air programmes.

The support for UML is also seen a positive step for the future development and use of the tool within the company".

In addition to use case diagrams, I-Logix has introduced several new features to Statemate Magnum 3.1 that make it easier to use.

I-Logix has reduced the amount of effort necessary for a design change by detailing exactly what has changed in the model from the last version and allowing the engineer to provide comments on the modification.

This greatly enhances communication between the Systems Engineer and the component engineers tasked with building the individual pieces of the system.

Statemate Magnum 3.1 dramatically improves the ability of the systems engineer to communicate the design intent to nontechnical people such as customers, marketing and management personnel.

The systems engineer is able to write a description of what is causing the System to switch modes of operation and why, with the ability to toggle between the Transition note view and the formal action language view which supports system simulation.

The Statemate Magnum 3.1 release incorporates a number of ease of use enhancements for both new and experienced users such as copy, cut and past of truth tables and importing truth tables from external files.

Statemate Magnum 3.1 will be available early in the spring of 2002.

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