Model-driven user requirements specification using SysML

Requirements engineering is an important phase in a system's life cycle. When poorly performed, various problems may occur, such as failures, cost overrun and delays. The increasing complexity of systems makes requirements engineering activities both more important and more difficult. Model-driven engineering, in which models are the main artifact during system development, is an emergent approach that tries to address system complexity by the intense use of models. This article proposes a model-driven approach to requirements engineering based on SysML Requirements and Use Case Diagrams. The main advantages are that user requirements are graphically modeled, their relationships are explicitly mapped, and system decomposition is considered in the early system development activities. In addition, requirements traceability is enhanced by using the SysML Requirements tables. The approach is illustrated by a list of user requirements for a road traffic management system. © 2008 Academy Publisher.