Terms management system (TMS)
First Claim
1. A method for managing data associated with a product design and its requirements, said method comprising:
- maintaining a list of features, residing in a relational database on a server computer, where said list of features may be used by any product development team;
maintaining a list of software functions, residing in the relational database on the server computer, where said list of software functions have been created to support each feature;
maintaining a data dictionary, residing in the relational database on the server computer, said data dictionary containing a list of data items which may be used in all features or software functions, where the data dictionary includes as attributes for each data item a name and a description of the data item, a data item category which identifies the data item as either constant or variable, a data item type which identifies the data item as either integer or floating decimal point, a minimum value and a maximum value for the data item, an indication of whether the data item is an array, an owner feature name, an owner software function name, an owner person name, an initial value, a fail soft value, an indication of whether the data item is a trigger for an action in a software function, a list of consumer software functions, a scale factor to be applied to the data item, and a time period which indicates how long the owner software function takes to execute;
maintaining a glossary of technical terms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development; and
maintaining an acronym library containing a list of acronyms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for managing technical terms and data items associated with a product design and its features and requirements. A terms management process and software tool are described which build a repository of technical terms with definitions, data items with attributes, and acronyms with meanings. The central repository can be used by anyone who needs to use or contribute to the data, thus preventing ambiguity and misunderstanding in the use of data items and terms. The process and software tool integrate with a requirements development method and tool, which ensures that all data items and terms are reviewed and approved before being used.
41 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for managing data associated with a product design and its requirements, said method comprising:
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maintaining a list of features, residing in a relational database on a server computer, where said list of features may be used by any product development team; maintaining a list of software functions, residing in the relational database on the server computer, where said list of software functions have been created to support each feature; maintaining a data dictionary, residing in the relational database on the server computer, said data dictionary containing a list of data items which may be used in all features or software functions, where the data dictionary includes as attributes for each data item a name and a description of the data item, a data item category which identifies the data item as either constant or variable, a data item type which identifies the data item as either integer or floating decimal point, a minimum value and a maximum value for the data item, an indication of whether the data item is an array, an owner feature name, an owner software function name, an owner person name, an initial value, a fail soft value, an indication of whether the data item is a trigger for an action in a software function, a list of consumer software functions, a scale factor to be applied to the data item, and a time period which indicates how long the owner software function takes to execute; maintaining a glossary of technical terms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development; and maintaining an acronym library containing a list of acronyms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for managing data associated with a vehicle design and its requirements, said method comprising:
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maintaining a list of features which may be used by any product development team; maintaining a list of software functions which have been created to support each feature; maintaining a data dictionary containing a list of data items which may be used in all features or software functions, where the data dictionary includes as attributes for each data item a name and a description of the data item, a data item category which identifies the data item as either constant or variable, a data item type which identifies the data item as either integer or floating decimal point, a minimum value and a maximum value for the data item, an indication of whether the data item is an array, an owner feature name, an owner software function name, an owner person name, an initial value, a fail soft value, an indication of whether the data item is a trigger for an action in a software function, a list of consumer software functions, a scale factor to be applied to the data item, and a time period which indicates how long the owner software function takes to execute; maintaining a glossary of technical terms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development; maintaining an acronym library containing a list of acronyms which may be used in any product design, feature development, and requirements development; storing the list of features, the list of software functions, the data dictionary, the glossary, and the acronym library in a relational database on a server computer; and proposing a new entry for inclusion in the data dictionary, the glossary, or the acronym library, including review and approval by a team of appropriate people before the new entry can be used by others. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A software tool for managing data associated with a design requirement, said software tool comprising:
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a list of product features residing in a relational database on a server computer; a list of software functions residing in the relational database on the server computer; a data dictionary residing in the relational database on the server computer, where the data dictionary contains data items and their attributes, and where the data dictionary includes as attributes for each data item a name and a description of the data item, a data item category which identifies the data item as either constant or variable, a data item type which identifies the data item as either integer or floating decimal point, a minimum value and a maximum value for the data item, an indication of whether the data item is an army, an owner feature name, an owner software function name, an owner person name, an initial value, a fail soft value, an indication of whether the data item is a trigger for an action in a software function, a list of consumer software functions, a scale factor to be applied to the data item, and a time period which indicates how long the owner software function takes to execute; a glossary residing in the relational database on the server computer, where the glossary contains terms and their definitions; an acronym library residing in the relational database on the server computer, where the acronym library contains acronyms and their meanings; and templates for creating, viewing, and editing items in the list of product features, the list of software functions, the data dictionary, the glossary, and the acronym library. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification