Do Useful Multi-Domain Methods Exist?

The creation of embedded systems requires multi-disciplinary methods. The class of embedded systems is a quite heterogeneous class of systems, ranging from small high volume integrated circuits to expensive one-of-a-kind systems, such as electron microscopes or air-traffic controllers. The Embedded Systems Institute has been founded on the assumption that multi-disciplinary methods to create embedded systems can be applied in multiple doamins, despite the wide variation in embedded systems over the domains. In this article we discuss this assumption and we give a budget method as an example of a multi-disciplinary multi-domain method. Multi-disciplinary methods are used widely in the industry, but these methods are poorly consolidated and founded. We discuss the required research steps to advance from implicit methods to explicit and founded methods. This work has been carried out as part of the Boderc project under the responsibility of the Embedded Systems Institute. This project is partially supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs under the Senter TS program. This work is also part of the Gaudí project. All Gaudí documents are available at: http://www.gaudisite.nl/ version: 0.8 status: concept 21st February 2008