The following technical report is available from http://aib.informatik.rwth-aachen.de:

MeDUSA - MethoD for UML2-based Design of Embedded Software Applications Alexander Nyßen, Horst Lichter AIB 2007-07

MeDUSA (Method for UML2-based Design of Embedded Software Applications) is a model-driven software design method targeting the domain of small embedded systems, especially field devices.

Being Use Case-driven, MeDUSA systematically covers the software development lifecycle from the early requirements up to the late detailed design modelling. Models are successivly developed and employed throughout all activities.

By enforcing an object-based rather than an object-oriented design, a smooth transition of the resulting detailed design model towards an implementation in a procedural programming language is facilitated. This is essential, as procedural programming languages as the C language are still state-of-the-art in the regarded domain.

By leading to a component-based architectural design, MeDUSA explicitly addresses the reuse of components, something that is the prerequisite for the application of the method in a product-line setting. This has gained significant importance to the industrial practice in the last years.

MeDUSA was developed by the Research Group Software Construction of the RWTH Aachen University in close cooperation with the German ABB Research Centre in Ladenburg. It incorporates various practical experiences gained during the industrial development of embedded software in ABB Business Unit Instrumentation.