SatTerm experience: vocabulary control and facet analysis help improve the software requirement solicitation process

<p>One of the most difficult steps in the software development process is moving from&nbsp;requirements written in natural, uncontrolled language, to the formalisms required by the design&nbsp;modelling languages. To solve this issue, practitioners should pay attention to the possibility of&nbsp;applying vocabulary control and knowledge representation techniques to produce better&nbsp;specifications. The use of controlled vocabularies and the modelling of the conceptual relationships&nbsp;between concepts in a specific domain are expected to improve the quality of the specifications.<br> Vocabulary control and semantic modelling are promising tools to avoid the most frequent problems&nbsp;in the requirements specification process: lack of consistency and ambiguity.&nbsp;This paper provides a detailed description of the development process of an ontology used for&nbsp;requirements modelling in the area of satellite control systems. The process applied is based on well-established practices and guidelines applied for the construction of controlled vocabularies and&nbsp;faceted classifications schemas. Engineers can use the ontology when writing system specifications&nbsp;using predefined templates. The use of this ontology ensures the consistency of the specifications&nbsp;written by different engineers improves the communication with other parties involved in the system&nbsp;construction activities and sets the foundations for a semi-automated generation of models for&nbsp;subsequent design activities.</p>