A structured approach for functional analysis of context-aware systems

With the popularity of IoT (Internet of Things) technology, more and more engineering systems are integrated with context-aware functionalities. It is self-evident that functional analysis is a critical process for successful development of such context-aware systems (CASs). Since existing functional analysis approaches are primarily for developing traditional engineering systems, this paper aims at developing a structured approach for assisting engineers in carrying out functional analysis of CASs. Based on the concept of context from an interactive perspective, this research analyzes what constitutes the context of a CAS and its basic features. Then a structured approach for functional analysis is proposed, which systematically elaborates how to define and analyze the context of a CAS, how to identify functionalities from the context, and how to develop the functional structure of a CAS. A case study of the functional analysis of a self-service checkout system is employed to demonstrate the proposed approach, which shows that the proposed approach can help designers carry out functional analysis of CASs in an effective manner.