IEEE WG 12 Software Meeting 04
January 12 & 13, 2000
Final Meeting Minutes
The fourth meeting of the working group was held on January 12 and 13, 2000 at the PB World Offices in Newark, NJ.
Participants
A listing of participants is attached. Twelve members attended the meeting. Document: sw names 04.
Agenda
The agenda was accepted as distributed. Document: sw agenda 04
Meeting Minutes 03 Approval
The meeting 03 minutes from September 23 & 24, 1999 were distributed and one correction was made. The minutes were approved by voice vote.
PAR Status / Scope and Purpose Review
The scope and purpose document that was incorporated into the PAR was distributed. The PAR has been submitted to NESCOM with one comment received to date and answered. The commenter questioned if the standard would address safety concerns such as train separation. The standard addresses software documentation concerns of format and content. Software safety is addressed by IEEE P1483 Standard for Software Safety.
The working group was informed that the scope and purpose as approved by the IEEE must appear in the standard without revision. If a revision is required, the scope and purpose must be resubmitted for approval.
Standard Applicable – Outside Transit
Bill Petiit was not able to attend the meeting. The information contained in Bill’s email was paraphrased. A copy of the email test appears below:
“Paul
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this meeting. As a report on
my task from last month regarding RR participation, I sent the following
message to a variety of railroads.
======
Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 8:52 AM
To: Gerard Sniffen (Norfolk Southern); William Peterson (BNSF); Tom Trovato
(Florida East Coast); Howard Moody (AAR); Phil
Abaray (UP); Larry Light (Amtrak); Mike Choat (CSX); Bill Goodman (FRA); Joe
Mattingly (BRS);
(CP); Alvan Tom (CN);
Cc: Paul Jamieson; Thomas McGean; Jim Kyle
Subject: Working Group for Standardized Software Documentation
The Institute of Electrical and Electonics Engineers (IEEE) has formed a
Working Group (WG12) to address standardization of software documentation
for rail systems. The preliminary scope and purpose of this working group
are listed below. (Note that this is not related to safety-critical
software as is being discussed in the RSAC task force and in IEEE 1483). It
is intended that various documentation requirements would apply to various
procurement types (e.g. whether or not the end user would maintain and/or
modify the software). Paul Jamieson of Wabco Rail Electronics is chairing
this Working Group.
Scope
======
This standard establishes the minimum requirements for application software
documentation throughout the software development life cycle for rail
equipment and systems including associated test and maintenance equipment.
Purpose
======
Many differing requirements for application software documentation are
presently being specified for software used in rail equipment and systems
and for related applications. This has led to a lack of standardization in
the information provided on equipment and systems incorporating software.
This standard, when used by the authority having jurisdiction, and
system/subsystem suppliers is intended to specify documents that improve the
understanding of software functionality, facilitate software corrections and
upgrades, improve on-time delivery, assist in the development of quality
software,and lower software acquisition and maintenance costs.
At the last Working Group meeting, the question arose regarding whether
freight railroads have an interest in participating in developing the
standard and/or using the standard once developed. IEEE standards are
voluntary consensus standards developed under strict guidelines of openness,
balance of interest, and due process. Use of the standard is voluntary, but
they do have high visibility and support as a standard. Present members of
the working group include FRA, consultants, suppliers, transit agencies and
commuter railroads.
Please respond to this e-mail with your answers to the following questions.
Please pass this on to anyone within your organization (or outside) that you
feel may have an interest in this process.
1. As an end user, do you feel that this standard would benefit the freight
railroads and would you likely use it once it is completed?
2. If the answer to 1 is yes, are you willing to participate in the
development of the standard? Participation can be done either through
attending meetings, or providing comments to Working Group drafts.
Participation can also be done as a "friend" of the working group where you
will receive meeting minutes and have the opportunity to provide comments.
For more information on the sponsoring group for this standard and other
related working groups, see
http://www.tsd.org/wg.htm
For more information on this particular Working Group, see
http://www.tsd.org/wg12.htm
======
CSX was very supportive and is sending a representative to the meeting (Gary
Kujala). CP was supportive and asked to be on the mailing list (Jim
Jardine, John Ritchie). Alvan Tom (CN) told me they were interested, but I
have not had an official response from him yet. No other responses were
received. Howard Moody (AAR) is already on the mailing list.
My recommendation is to include those members who have already responded and
keep the following members on the mailing list for informational responses.
This will allow those freight RR's not desiring to participate to be kept
aware of activities and determine whether or not they wish to use this
standard. Sufficient interest was given on the part of the freight
railroads to show that some of them feel it is a useful standard.
Responded
Gary Kujala,
Jim Jardine,
John Ritchie,
Already on List
Howard Moody
Add to List for Informational Purposes
Gerard Sniffen,
William Peterson,
Tom Trovato,
Phil Abaray,
Larry Light,
Bill Goodman,
Alvan Tom,
Bill”
Contract, Equipment and Procurement Types
The team assigned to report on the various aspects did not complete their respective assignments. As new participants joined the group, a review of the previous activities and direction was presented.
Table Review
The table from meeting 02 and KRC presentation was distributed and reviewed. Each document was discussed.
The standard will address the entire software life cycle, such that when the standard is specified the final customer will be assured that all necessary software documentation is created and the software was developed according to accepted standards.
The minimum content of the standard follows
Required documentation
Reference existing standards as much as possible
The format and content of each document is described.
The sequence of document preparation is preferred.
Assignments made to review documents needs to consider these concerns:
Based on the document, determine the applicable standard, format and content required.
Is the document applicable to the industry in whole or in part?
Is the format and content acceptable?
Are their variations required? How are variations applied? Are variations constrained?
Are their deficiencies in the existing standards?
Standard Framework
As the group spent significant time discussing the documents contained within the table. Time was not available to discuss the general standard framework as defined by the IEEE Style Guide.
Task Assignments
1. PMP & SDP Implementation Dave Falkenberg
How are these documents implemented? What are the requirements and templates?
- Management & Planning Byron Frank
What are the requirements and templates for SQAP, SCMP, SVVP and SVVR?
- ISQAP Presentation Martin Cloutier
Bombardier to provide a representation of the ISQAP and how is it implemented? Provide a structure and rationale for using the document?
- Design – SFD, SRS & SDD Leroy Denney/William MacArthur
What documents [SFD, SRS and/or SDD] are required at this phase? What information needs to be contained within the SFD?
- Testing Martin Cloutier/Shantilal Morar
What are the requirements and templates for STP, STPr and STR? Need to identify and resolve potential overlap that may exist between SVVP and STP.
- User Documentation George Hacken
Determine if IEEE 1063 is applicable. How is version history, installation and maintenance [parameter modification, software modification, software reload/recovery, etc.}?
- Traceability Matrix Martin Cloutier
Determine if IEEE 730 is applicable. Bombardier to provide a matrix sample. How is the traceability matrix used?
- COTS Lori Karr
When utilizing commercial off-the-shelf software, these items need to be addressed:
What are the issues?
How to address in the standard as its own section and within the templates?
Are there types of COTS?
- Standard Framework Paul Jamieson
A framework for the standard must be prepared. The framework needs to include the introduction material for review that captures the group discussions.
Assignments need to be completed by February 25, 2000.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on April 5 and 6, 2000 at NJ Transit Offices in Newark, NJ. An agenda will be distributed prior to the meeting.
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