Homework Assignment 1

Due : 6.30pm, October 12, 2000.

Problem Statement

Suppose that is 2005 and economical high-speed/broadband wireless Internet is widely available in society. In an effort to improve the quality of living in US homes, US industry (e.g., General Electric; Cisco; SUN Microsystems; Microsoft), is developing household-level networking infrastructure, and a new generation of sensors and appliances for the home market. Recognised ways of improving the quality of household living include new services for disabled people, aging people, busy people, and more generally, measures that enhance human health, save energy, enhance security, provide entertainment, and so forth.

You should assume that new houses are being built with high-speed network infrastructure and that a variety of suitable sensors are readily available. Basic applications of sensor technology could include:

Windows and doors are fitted with switches to indicate when they are open,
Each room might contain a sensor to measure the air temperature,
A detector in each room might sense when the lights are on,

Each of these sensors might be connected to a computer, which can monitor the values and perform various actions using electronically operated devices. Possible actions of a smart house might include:

Sounding an alarm if someone leaves the house with a door or window still open.
Reporting on how much power has been used for lighting over the past month,
Switching off the heating when a room becomes too warm.

What to do?

Suppose that you have been asked to redesign an everyday household appliance (e.g., refrigerator, microwave oven, dish washer, tv, alarm clock, lamp, fire alarm, security system/alarm, entertainment center) to take advantage of this new technology. Your next-generation appliance should:

Respond to human commands,
Communicate with information/appliance services external to the house when needed, and
Communicate with other household appliances when it makes sense.

For one appliance of your choice, develop a use case model;

Who are the actors?
What are the system boundaries?
What are the use-cases?
For each use case, develop scenarios for normal and abnormal behavior.
Identify opportunities for use case generalization (i.e., behavior that is similar across more than one use case and you don't want to copying that description).
Briefly list some requirements that are generated from the use cases and scenario execution.

This assignment is tricky and will require some thinking, but I'm sure there will be many good solutions. My suggestion is that you write a summary of your key ideas -- let's say no more than 8-10 pages, including diagrams. State all of your assumptions (even if they seem outrageous).

Develop a web page containing the appropriate use case, sequence, and class hierarchy diagrams.

What to hand in

Students in ITV-land can hand in a pencil-and-paper solution. Students at UMD should hand in a printout of their web pages.

References

Here are some on-line references: