Requirements elicitation through model-driven evaluation of software components

The use of software components is perceived to significantly shorten development time and cost, while improving quality, in developing a large, complex software system. A key premise to this perception seems to be the ability to effectively search, match, rank, and select software components, during the requirements engineering process. In this paper, we present a technique for eliciting requirements by using model-driven evaluation of software components, where the evaluation revolves around "models" of software components and "models" of the component-based application (CBA). As part of our ongoing project, component-aware requirements engineering (CARE), this model-driven evaluation technique is intended to match the models of the stakeholders' needs for the component-based application against the models of the capabilities of the set of components that are currently available. More specifically, this technique allows for an integrated use of several searching/matching techniques, such as keyword-based search, case-based reasoning (CBR) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP), in evaluating models of components' requirements against models of the requirements of the stakeholders of the CBA being elicited incrementally. The model-driven evaluation technique is illustrated using a home appliance control system (HACS) example.