Mapping Requirements to Features to Create Traceability in Product Line Models

Developers and engineers have shown the many benefits of feature modelling for identifying reusable software and hardware components across product lines and platforms. However, a gap exists when it comes to identifying reusable products, and requirements across iterations of features. Due to the ambiguous relationship between features and requirements, it can be difficult to determine the boundary between them. We propose a methodology for using features to encapsulate requirements by establishing a clear hierarchy between features and requirements. This will assist feature-requirement traceability tooling and automation development.