APPROACH OF INTEGRATING BEHAVIOUR-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT WITH HARDWARE/SOFTWARE CODESIGN

Using typical approaches in designing embedded systems to manage the specification and design of the hardware and software is not suitable in today's projects. In this paper, we propose a model-driven approach to integrate Hardware/Software codesign with Behaviour-Driven Development. Hardware/Software codesign approach allows the hardware and the software to be designed and implemented concurrently and optimizes the project design constraint, such as performance and cost. Behaviour-Driven Development spurs project stakeholders to collaborate to ensure the right software is developed to meet their needs and ensures that all project participants communicate in the same language. The approach exploits the advantages of each approach and provides the ability to describe the behaviour of the software as executable user stories in a Hardware/Software codesign environment. The approach is evaluated using a renewable energy project in collaboration with a private company in Canada to build a system for autonomous load management of self-forming renewable energy nanogrids.