A8.1 - Feature Creep for Efficiency
- Event
- ETTC 2024 - European Test and Telemetry Conference
2024-06-11 - 2024-06-13
Nuremberg - Chapter
- Networks & Architectures
- Author(s)
- M. Weir - Ampex Data Systems Corporation, Hayward (USA)
- Pages
- 100 - 105
- DOI
- 10.5162/ETTC2024/A8.1
- ISBN
- 978-3-910600-02-7
- Price
- free
Abstract
For most project managers, additions to the scope of a project are problematic: not only must the project complete its original goals, but also new ones. And while cost is naturally important, perhaps the biggest challenge is adapting the design of a system to incorporate new functionality, which may lead to inefficiency in development and implementation. This paper describes the sequence of scope changes to a data collection system, and how collaboration between the customer, the end user and the suppliers increased the functionality of the solution as the capabilities expanded. The result is a system which started as a simple data collection device and has evolved into a traffic management system handling data format conversion, security oversight, instrumentation command and control, traffic routing, and, still, data collection. This paper provides insight into the process by which the new functionality was implemented, illustrating how economies of power, mass and volume can be achieved by the use of specialist software running on versatile hardware. That process is in contrast to the more traditional "one box, one function" approach with hardware modules, which is undoubtedly elegant but also less efficient than a software-centric design.