Product line adoption in industry
Muhammad Abbas, Robbert Jongeling, Claes Lindskog, Eduard Paul Enoiu, Mehrdad Saadatmand, Daniel Sundmark · 2020
The software system controlling a train is typically deployed on various hardware architectures and must process various signals across those deployments. The increase of such customization scenarios and the needed adherence of the software to various safety standards in different application domains has led to the adoption of product line engineering within the railway domain. This paper explores the current state-of-practice of software product line development within a team developing industrial embedded software for a train propulsion control system. Evidence is collected using a focus group session with several engineers and through inspection of archival data. We report several benefits and challenges experienced during product line adoption and deployment. Furthermore, we identify and discuss improvement opportunities, focusing mainly on product line evolution and test automation.