Jussi Ronkainen

New directions on agile methods: a comparative analysis

Agile software development methods have caught the attention of software engineers and researchers worldwide. Scientific research is yet scarce. This paper reports results from a study, which aims to organize, analyze and make sense out of the dispersed field of agile software development methods. The comparative analysis is performed using the methods life-cycle coverage, project management support, type of practical guidance, fitness-for-use and empirical evidence as the analytical lenses. The results show that agile software development methods, without rationalization, cover certain/different phases of the software development life-cycle and most of them do not offer adequate support for project management. Yet, many methods still attempt to strive for universal solutions (as opposed to situation appropriate) and the empirical evidence is still very limited. Based on the results, new directions are suggested In principal, it is suggested to place emphasis on methodological quality - not method quantity.

Software development under stringent hardware constraints: do agile methods have a chance?

Agile software development methods have been suggested as useful in many situations and contexts. However, only few (if any) experiences are available regarding the use of agile methods in embedded domain where the hardware sets tight requirements for the software. This development domain is arguably far away from the agile home ground. This paper explores the possibility of using agile development techniques in this environment and defines the requirements for new agile methods targeted to facilitate the development of embedded software. The findings are based on an empirical study over a period 12 months in the development of low-level telecommunications software. We maintain that by addressing the requirements we discovered, agile methods can be successful also in the embedded software domain.

Measurement automation: methodological background and practical solutions a multiple case study

Continuous collection and analysis of measurement data is crucial in tracking and managing a software development process efficiently. However, practice has shown that setting up and carrying out a measurement programme requires a lot of effort. Despite their tight schedules, project managers and project personnel perform measurement activities in addition to their main daily duties. Furthermore, measurement tasks may be perceived as secondary work for a software development project, which, as such, may harm the success of the measurement programme. Thus, all measurement activities that are reasonable to automate should be automated. In this paper, we propose a measurement automation process that is based on the principles of goal-driven measurement. We give two industrial examples to demonstrate what measurement automation means in practice. We also discuss tool requirements and, as an example, we present a software measurement management tool enhanced by measurement automation.

Characteristics of Process Improvement of Hardware-Related SW

High-speed digital signal processing requires sophisticated solutions for both software and hardware. Enabling software support and control over hardware functionality is a problem that will be emphasised as systems become more complex. Developing hardware-bound software is not, however, application development, and the related requirements cannot be covered in full by traditional software development processes. This paper describes experiences from the development of hardware-related software development processes at Nokia Networks. As most important characteristics of hardware-related software development, hard real-time requirements, experimental nature of work, documentation requirements, and the role of testing are presented. Characteristics of software process improvement in a hardware-dependent software environment are reported. As a result, a current-state analysis of hardware-related software development was made. Better understanding of the development processes was gained, facilitating further process improvement activities.

Simulation-Based Approach for Studying the Balancing of Local Smart Grids with Electric Vehicle Batteries

Modern society is facing great challenges due to pollution and increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As part of solving these challenges, the use of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles (EVs) is rapidly increasing. However, increased dynamics have triggered problems in balancing energy supply and consumption demand in the power systems. The resulting uncertainty and unpredictability of energy production, consumption, and management of peak loads has caused an increase in costs for energy market actors. Therefore, the means for studying the balancing of local smart grids with EVs is a starting point for this paper. The main contribution is a simulation-based approach which was developed to enable the study of the balancing of local distribution grids with EV batteries in a cost-efficient manner. The simulation-based approach is applied to enable the execution of a distributed system with the simulation of a local distribution grid, including a number of charging stations and EVs. A simulation system has been constructed to support the simulation-based approach. The evaluation has been carried out by executing the scenario related to balancing local distribution grids with EV batteries in a step-by-step manner. The evaluation results indicate that the simulation-based approach is able to facilitate the evaluation of smart grid– and EV-related communication protocols, control algorithms for charging, and functionalities of local distribution grids as part of a complex, critical cyber-physical system. In addition, the simulation system is able to incorporate advanced methods for monitoring, controlling, tracking, and modeling behavior. The simulation model of the local distribution grid can be executed with the smart control of charging and discharging powers of the EVs according to the load situation in the local distribution grid. The resulting simulation system can be applied to the study of balancing local smart grids with EV batteries. Based on the evaluation results, it is estimated that the simulation-based approach can provide an essential, safe, and cost-efficient method for the evaluation of complex, critical cyber-physical systems, such as smart grids.

Designing a Data Management Pipeline for Pervasive Sensor Communication Systems

Abstract Pervasive sensor systems offer unbounded possibilities for monitoring and tracking objects, machines, and spaces. To maximize the benefit from a sensor system, sensor data requires efficient preprocessing and analysis. Big data techniques make distributed processing of huge amounts of data fast and cost-effective, making them a practical necessity for sensor data. However, the real-time requirements and the sheer velocity and volume of data from large sensor systems require a dedicated approach to designing the data processing pipeline. This paper discusses viewpoints and requirements for designing a sensor data pipeline, with specific focus on data input, live preprocessing, and storage.

Towards User-Driven Cyber-Physical Systems—Strategies to Support User Intervention in Provisioning of Information and Capabilities of Cyber-Physical Systems

The provisioning of information and capabilities of a Cyber-Physical System (CPS) can be performed directly in the CPS or in external applications and services. A Cyber Physical Production System (CPPS) can be seen to be an example of an evolving CPS, where new elements such as machines can be added to produce desired products. Human interaction with the CPPS can be reorganized among users that participate in the constantly evolving production tasks. This all requires solutions that enable the users to affect provisioning of information and capabilities of CPPS in different kinds of tasks. This chapter outlines an example of a user-driven CPPS and strategies for enabling user intervention in the behaviour of cyber-physical systems and in the behaviour of applications and services that are based on cyber-physical systems. In addition, we outline an architecture for user-driven CPSs that offers support for the proposed user intervention strategies.

Building a Simulation-in-the-loop Sensor Data Testbed for Cloud-enabled Pervasive Applications☆

Abstract When experimenting with pervasive systems consisting of numerous intercommunicating machines and sensors, it quickly becomes desirable to mix simulated virtual nodes and real world machines. This will enable the implementation of a test-bed where a large number of simulated nodes, instead of a potentially very expensive set of real prototype devices, are interacting with a smaller number of physical devices through real world physical network hardware. Such setups are referred to as “simulation-in-the-loop” systems, where it is possible to send and receive simulator generated packets on real world devices. This approach will also inherently ensure a certain degree of validity and realism of the simulation models as packets generated within the simulator must travel through a real network and be successfully received by a physical machine which, ideally, has no way of knowing if the packet originated from a simulated node or a real one. In this paper, we are presenting the design principles for an interconnected test-bed system for trialing the data handling capabilities of cloud-enabled sensor systems.