Starting a Product Line Approach for an Envisioned Market

At the present time, systems for the automotive market are typically developed independently of each other. The resulting systems are closed systems in the sense that they are built to perform specific operations but nothing more. Interoperability between such systems is difficult to establish. The need for a more integrated, software-based development approach is changing the way these systems are designed. Many car manufacturers and system providers are moving in this direction and it is broadly accepted that this paradigm shift in the development of automotive systems will be reflected in a very interesting new market. So far this market is an envisioned market, and specific products have not yet been developed. This paper describes a part of the process defined during the initiative undertaken by Robert Bosch GmbH and the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University to instantiate a product line for innovative automotive systems. The process steps described in this report specifically deal with the early phases of product line development. In particular, the experience gathered from defining and applying product line analysis and design in the domain of automotive systems is described.