Date of Award

12-1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Mark A. Kanko, PhD

Abstract

The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) is tasked with the evaluation of operational effectiveness of new systems for the Air Force. Currently, the software analysis team within AFOTEC has no methodology to directly address the effectiveness of the software portion of these new systems. This research develops a working definition for software effectiveness, then outlines an approach to evaluate software effectiveness-- the Software Effectiveness Traceability Approach (SETA). Effectiveness is defined as the degree to which the software requirements are satisfied and is therefore application-independent. With SETA, requirements satisfaction is measured by the "degree of traceability" throughout the software development effort. A degree of traceability is determined for specific pairs of software life-cycle phases, such as the traceability from software requirements to high-level design and low-level design to code. The degrees of traceability are combined for an overall software effectiveness value. It is shown that SETA can be implemented in a simplified database, and basic database operations are described to retrieve traceability information and quantify the software's effectiveness. SETA is demonstrated using actual software development data from a small software component of the avionics subsystem of the C-17, the Air Force's newest transport aircraft.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GCS-ENG-96D-24

DTIC Accession Number

ADA323339

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