Hardware/software design requirements analysis: Part 1 - Laying the ground work

Jeffrey O. Grady, President, JOG Systems Engineering, Inc.
EETimes (11/6/2011 8:49 PM EST)

This series of articles is about the process of developing good specifications for any hardware or software development project. In the English-speaking world, requirements are phrased in English sentences that cannot be distinguished structurally from English sentences constructed for any other purpose.

Yes, specifications are full of sentences. It is relatively easy to write sentences once you know what to write them about. A requirement is simply a statement in the chosen language that clearly defines an expectation placed on the design process prior to implementing the creative design process.

Requirements are intended to constrain the solution space to solutions that will encourage small-problem solutions that synergistically work together to satisfy the large-problem (system) solution.

Requirements are formed from the words and symbols of the chosen language. They include all of the standard language components arranged in the way that a good course in that language, commonly studied in the lower grades in school, specifies.

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