Integrated description of functional and non-functional requirements for automotive systems design using SysML

Modern passenger cars are no longer mechanically dominated systems; their customer value and physical behavior are greatly influenced by electric/electronic systems and software. Therefore technical and economic importance of electric and electronic functions is increasing in the automotive industry over the last few years. Today's demands on infotainment- and driver assistance systems and the ambition of realizing autonomous driving further enhance the number and complexity of electronic systems in passenger cars. As a result, new challenges emerge in automotive engineering and especially in the field of overall passenger car development. In order to handle complexity under constantly changing circumstances cross-domain requirements engineering of both mechanical and electric/electronic elements is necessary. This paper proposes a model-based approach to automotive requirements engineering for the overall passenger car development based on SysML. The SysML stereotype Requirement is extended to functional and non-functional requirements. The paper validates the advantages that include classified and graphically modeled requirements, as well as their relationships being explicitly mapped. Using an industrial example, it is demonstrated how this requirement specification manages the interactions between mechanical and electric/electronic requirements.