Analysis of conflicts among non-functional requirements using integrated analysis of functional and non-functional requirements

Author

Vishal Sadana

Abstract

"Detection and resolution of non-functional requirements conflicts is one of the most challenging tasks in software requirement analysis. However, conflicts among nonfunctional requirements are often identified subjectively and there is a lack of conflict analysis in practice. Furthermore, a lot of them are very abstract and hard to understand. Therefore, they provide very little information in the design decision process. Current approaches fail to capture the nature of conflicts among non-functional requirements, which makes the task of conflict resolution difficult. In this research, a framework has been provided for the analysis of conflicts among non-functional requirements using the integrated analysis of functional and non-functional requirements. The inputs of this framework are abstract non-functional requirements, quality attribute hierarchy, functionality hierarchy, constraint hierarchy, and relationships among quality attributes, functionalities and constraints. The framework identifies and analyzes conflicts based on relationships among quality attributes, functionalities and constraints. Since, poorly structured requirement statements usually result in confusing specifications; we also developed canonical forms for representing non-functional requirements. The output of our framework is a conflict hierarchy that refines conflicts among non-functional requirements level by level. In this conflict analysis process, conflicts are categorized as mutually exclusive conflicts or partial conflicts. Finally, a case study is provided in which the proposed framework was applied to analyze and detect conflicts among the nonfunctional requirements of a search engine"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Liu, Xiaoqing Frank

Committee Member(s)

Cheng, Maggie Xiaoyan
Luechtefeld, Ray

Department(s)

Computer Science

Degree Name

M.S. in Computer Science

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Spring 2007

Pagination

vii, 37 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (page 36).

Rights

© 2007 Vishal Sadana, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Conflict management -- Decision making

Thesis Number

T 9132

Print OCLC #

173660307

Recommended Citation

Sadana, Vishal, "Analysis of conflicts among non-functional requirements using integrated analysis of functional and non-functional requirements" (2007). Masters Theses. 40.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/40