Software Engineering Techniques in the
CERN RD- 38 (CICERO) Project

R. McClatchey, W. Harris, N. Baker, C. Wallace
Dept Of Computing, Univ West of England, UK

J- M. Le Goff*
ECP Division, CERN, Geneva, 1211 Switzerland


The complexity of the software required in the forthcoming control systems for LHC experiments necessitates a re- think of the strategies employed in the design of such systems. Use of software engineering standards and rigorous systems development methodologies are required to ensure the success of High Energy Physics (HEP) control system design. The CERN RD- 38 (CICERO) project aims to use modern software engineering methods such as Object Orientation to design the main building blocks of a generic control information system which will be based on the distributed object standard, CORBA (CORBA 1992). CICERO is producing an integrating environment named Cortex (Barillere 1994a) and is following the European Space Agency (ESA) Software Engineering Standards. Cortex will enable distributed user control objects to be ultimately 'plugged and played' in CICERO and will provide a supporting information system for the configuration and management of the control environment. This paper outlines conclusions that can be drawn from the use of Object Orientation and the ESA standards in the design of Cortex.