Prioritizing interdependent software requirements using tensor and fuzzy graphs

Authors: NEGIN MISAGHIAN, HOMAYUN MOTAMENI, MOHSEN RABBANI

Abstract: Owing to the special stance of prioritizing tasks in requirements engineering processes, and as the requirements are not independent in nature, considering their dependencies is essential during the prioritizing process. Although different classifications of dependency types among requirements exist, only a few approaches in the prioritization process consider such valuable data (dependency among equirements). To achieve a practical prioritization, this study proposes a method based on the effects of the requirement dependencies (increase/decrease cost of) on the value of prioritization provided by the tensor concept. Since the strengths of dependencies are also influential factors in the act of prioritization, The algebraic structure of fuzzy graphs is used to model the requirement dependencies and their strengths. Moreover, a weighted page rank algorithm based on the fuzzy concept is provided to determine the final dependency strength of the dependent requirements of the fuzzy graph. To evaluate the proposed approach, a controlled experiment is also conducted. The proposed approach is compared with an analytic hierarchy process-based approach, TOPSIS, and EVOLVE in the experiment. The results analysis demonstrates that our approach is less time-consuming, much easier to use, and highly accurate.

Keywords: Requirements prioritization, requirements engineering, software engineering, interdependent requirements, tensor, fuzzy graphs

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