CREATION OF A NASA SPECIFICATION TO EXECUTABLE PROGRAMS (NASA/STEP) CAPABILITY

SUPPORT FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE SYSTEM ENGINEERING PROCESS IS A WIDELY RECOGNIZED PROBLEM. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DELIVER A NASA DOMAIN-SPECIFIC SPECIFICATION-TO-EXECUTABLE-PROGRAMS (NASA/STEP) CAPABILITY BASED ON THE EVOLVING STRATEGIC DEFENSE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM (SDDS). THE SDDS CAPABILITY CURRENTLY EXISTS IN PROTOTYPE FORM BUT IS STRONGLY ORIENTED TO THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE SOFTWARE DOMAIN. IT AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATES GRAPHICAL MODELS (SPECIFICATIONS) INTO THIRD-GENERATION COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES FOR TEST AND VERIFICATION. THE GRAPHICAL MODELS CAN BE DECOMPOSED, ANALYZED, AND EVOLVED ASKNOWLEDGE OF SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN EVOLVE. INSTRUMENTATION OF THE MODELS CAN PERMIT TEST AND VERIFICATION OF THE SOFTWARE DURING EACH ITERATION. THE MODELS MAY BE DISPLAYED, TESTED, OR STORED IN THEIR VARIOUS LEVELS, THUS INCREASING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING, MANAGEMENT CONTROL, REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS, AND DESIGN SPECIFICATION, AS WELL AS REUSABILITY OF THE SOFTWARE. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES ARE TO IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF NASAREGARDING USE OF THE STEP TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOP LARGE-SCALE,COMPLEX SOFTWARE SYSTEMS. THE PHASE II EFFORT WOULD BE TO DELIVER A PROTOTYPE NASA/STEP. THE EXPECTED BENEFIT TO NASA IS AN ACQUIRED TECHNOLOGY AND THE CAPABILITY TO MORE EFFICIENTLY SUPPORT THE SPACE SOFTWARE-SYSTEMS LIFE CYCLE. SUPPORT FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE SYSTEM ENGINEERING PROCESS IS A WIDELY RECOGNIZED PROBLEM. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DELIVER A NASA DOMAIN-SPECIFIC SPECIFICATION-TO-EXECUTABLE-PROGRAMS (NASA/STEP) CAPABILITY BASED ON THE EVOLVING STRATEGIC DEFENSE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM (SDDS). THE SDDS CAPABILITY CURRENTLY EXISTS IN PROTOTYPE FORM BUT IS STRONGLY ORIENTED TO THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE SOFTWARE DOMAIN. IT AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATES GRAPHICAL MODELS (SPECIFICATIONS) INTO THIRD-GENERATION COMPUTER PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES FOR TEST AND VERIFICATION. THE GRAPHICAL MODELS CAN BE DECOMPOSED, ANALYZED, AND EVOLVED ASKNOWLEDGE OF SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN EVOLVE. INSTRUMENTATION OF THE MODELS CAN PERMIT TEST AND VERIFICATION OF THE SOFTWARE DURING EACH ITERATION. THE MODELS MAY BE DISPLAYED, TESTED, OR STORED IN THEIR VARIOUS LEVELS, THUS INCREASING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING, MANAGEMENT CONTROL, REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS, AND DESIGN SPECIFICATION, AS WELL AS REUSABILITY OF THE SOFTWARE. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES ARE TO IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF NASAREGARDING USE OF THE STEP TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOP LARGE-SCALE,COMPLEX SOFTWARE SYSTEMS. THE PHASE II EFFORT WOULD BE TO DELIVER A PROTOTYPE NASA/STEP. THE EXPECTED BENEFIT TO NASA IS AN ACQUIRED TECHNOLOGY AND THE CAPABILITY TO MORE EFFICIENTLY SUPPORT THE SPACE SOFTWARE-SYSTEMS LIFE CYCLE.