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| Notebook section: | Specifications |
| Purpose: | Describe the functional requirements and interfaces for your product. |
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The functional specification is a contractual document describing what you are building. It will be used not only to guide the design, but also to provide the baseline for testing the product. Because the specification is contractual, it cannot be altered without sign-off from all affected parties.
There are four main parts to the functional specification:
The overview should be a brief introduction to your product. Describe what purpose it is serving and give a high-level description of how it will work. The overview should briefly mention all of the basic functions of your product and provide a basic sketch of your product. Remember that this is not marketing material - do not hype your product here.
The specifications document is a contractual document.
In your design matrix, several design goals and criteria were stated informally. In this section you will describe these formally in terms of specifications.
First, include the following sentence at the top of your specifications for clarity:
"The User Interface and Technical Interface descriptions included with this specification document are considered contractual specifications."
For each of the design goals:
Your project will typically have 10-20 specifications. You do not have to specify issues related to user or technical interfaces in the specification section since they are included below.
The UI specification is a contractual document.
Specify how a user will operate your product. For each basic function listed in the overview, include the following:
The Technical Interface specification is a contractual document.
Describe the analog, digital and mechanical interfaces for your product.
| Describe communications protocol, including any commands sent over the interface | |
| Describe signal levels for protocol |
| Describe signal characteristics | |
| Describe over-voltage, over-current, etc. protection | |
| Describe any signal conditioning needed |
| Specify how interface works (i.e. how battery cover works) | |
| Describe approximate area needed for cavities/ports/etc. |
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Kevin Bolding October 24, 2006