En

Efficient Development for new mobile device

“„Model Driven Development with Rational Rhapsody® was a critical success factor for developing inspiro within the required schedule and market needs. Thanks to EVOCEAN's support, we were able to implement the tool quickly and apply the methodology effectively."“

Details

A complex development task, limited resources, and deadline pressure. These are the conditions under which Phonak began development on its new product generation based on dynamic FM technology. EVOCEAN supported the project team from the beginning.

Using Model Driven Development with Rational Rhapsody® from IBM allowed Phonak to bring the inspiro transmitter device based on completely new technology to a state of market readiness in just 12 months.

EVOCEAN supported the project team from the beginning, from the evaluation of the development environment through design of the software architecture to system integration.

Challenge

Phonak Communications AG is a leading manufacturer worldwide of highly miniaturized wireless communication systems. At the end of 2006, the company started development of the inspiro, a new transmitting device for instruction in classrooms with hearingimpaired students. inspiro is based on the revolutionary “Dynamic FM” platform, which has increased language comprehension in situations with excessive noise to a level previously considered impossible. inspiro combines a graphical interface with digital audio signal processing and a number of wireless links. The correspondingly complex, completely new software had to be developed within a very short time and using existing internal resources.

Solution

A comprehensive analysis of the initial situation showed that the only way to reach the desired goals was by using completely new development tools and target hardware:

  • UML with Rational Rhapsody® from IBM
  • Target platform with ARM9, USB, 3 proprietary wireless links,digital audio signal processing
  • RTOS Sciopta, GUI with Peg++, C++.

The critical element for the success of the project was applying Model Driven Development (MDD) using Rhapsody®:

  • Incremental iterative process
  • Graphical display of the new application (UML) in reusable models
  • Code generating from models to target platform
  • Fast prototyping for early validation of target hardware
  • Complete integration of development tools
  • Parallel development at multiple locations.

The role of EVOCEAN

EVOCEAN is a “Advanced Business Partner” of IBM in Switzerland. As an official Rational Rhapsody® competence center, we have not only access to all tools, but also to the internal know-how and knowledge pool of the Rhapsody® developers. Our team of consultants has broad technical knowledge and many years of experience in the area of Model Driven Development.

We offered Phonak support in the following areas of concern:

  • Consulting to select a development environment
  • Coaching for introducing MDD (UML) and using Rhapsody®
  • Onsite support as Lead Software Architect and in developing various key components
  • Support in project management
  • Responsibility for integrating all components into the application
  • On-the-job training for Rhapsody® and MDD method
  • Know-how transfer and exchange of experience.

Added value for the customer

Model Driven Development and Rational Rhapsody® allowed us to keep a handle on the considerable complexity of the project and lower the error rate significantly:

  • We met the ambitious goals related to functionality and quality
  • Launch on schedule with existing internal resources
  • High market acceptance of the new product
  • No major product improvements required after the market launch
  • Kick-start for em

    Phonak Communication AG

    „Model Driven Development with Rational Rhapsody® was a critical success factor for developing inspiro within the required schedule and market needs. Thanks to EVOCEAN’s support, we were able to implement the tool quickly and apply the methodology effectively.”

    D
    r. Rainer Platz
    Director of R&D

    ployees in Model Driven Development (method and software competence)

  • Solid software architecture for subsequent development
  • Well established development environment for follow-up projects
  • Universally comprehensible models and current documentation
  • Very easy to train new employees.

Customers about our services

Bernina Internation AG

„Früher haben wir pro Jahr ein neues Produktmodell lanciert – heute sind es mehrere dank Wiederverwendung von Modulen, welches auch unser Testaufwand markant reduziert hat.“

Giovanni Annunzio

System Architect

Schmidhauser AG

"A picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks to Rational Rhapsody® models, we can discuss new functionalities much better with our customers – even without knowledge of the code."

Peter Bode

Project Manager Mobile Drives

Schindler Elevator Ltd.

„Seamless integration of the development environment is one of our critical success criteria. Model Driven Development with Rational Rhapsody®allows us to generate the code for the target platform direct from the UML model. Integrating the debugger saves us enormous amounts of time in developing complex, embedded real-time applications. Thanks to EVOCEAN's support, today we can use this tool efficiently."

Juan Carlos Abad

Project Manager

Bosch

A warm praise to the very motivated trainer. The training content is conveyed in a very enjoyable and entertaining way. It was also very good to review the respective training days at the end. Frank Braun was able to answer every question and also tried, as far as time allowed, to address further topics raised.

N.N.

Systems Engineer

Bernina International AG

„In earlier days, we launched one new product model every year – today several thanx to re-use, which also reduces the time needed for testing significantly."

Giovanni Annunzio

System Architect

ReqEdit – Supply Chain Solution

"Vow - this is awesome"

N.N.

Procurement Engineer at an Industrial Mobility Company.

Hamilton Medical AG – Rhapsody

„The direct coupling of design and code with Rhapsody helps us managing the complexity of our products more easily, as design and code remain consistent in the long term.“

Andreas Anderegg

Senior Software Engineer

Rhapsody Training Feedback

The trainer was very well prepared, has an excellent overview and deep knowledge about the tool and about our surrounding processes (A-Spice) and methods.

Large Automotive Supplier

Systems Engineer

Kern AG

„Even if the change to Rhapsody required at first additional investment and effort – we have never regretted our decision. The fully automatic code generation from the model makes our life easier!“

Andreas Dubach

Head of Development Systems

Mettler Toledo AG

„Development in the embedded area should be platform independent and the used tools should support this!“

Wolfgang Boos

Head Software Development