Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Introduction
We have chosen Carrefour for our SDLC project. The IT system we will be implementing is Smart car
parking system. Parking is a growing issue. The number of cars on the road are increasing day by day
and it concerns to our target audience. This is not being worked on in any other companies in Pakistan.
Whereas we see its successful implementation in other countries. We chose this system because it will
address one of the basic concerns of the target audience and distinguish it from the competitors.

We have chosen the Water fall method for this.

Planning
Requirements
The materials required for the system are widely available through various number of vendors. The
materials in question would be sensors, cameras, screens to display information, QR Codes, ticket
dispenser. These are the only hardware required for the system to work. The software required would
be responsible for displaying the map of the parking lot on a screen for the driver to see which slots are
empty reserve the spot by taking out a ticket. The software will be responsible for gathering all the data
and displaying it over the screens. The time frame for completion of this project is 8-9 months.

Data Collection
In order to identify the need of the system we will start with data collection. Which will allow us to
determine the need for the system and the efficiency of the current system in place. We will use two
methods for data collection.

Secondary Research
There have been multiple studies done on the feasibility of a smart car parking system. It has helped in
saving time and even money for businesses. One such study done by Dahai Lu who used a parking model
to simulate the results of a smart car parking system showed how much it saves in time invested on
parking. The time to find a parking, park and to finding a parked car cut to more than half which shows
great improvement over the existing models. [ CITATION Dah \l 1033 ]

A survey conducted by IEE showed the advantages of car parking system. It showed how it was able to
cut the time of parking and finding your car into half and it allowed businesses to provide greater
convenience for their customers. [ CITATION Wae \l 1033 ]

Primary Research
In order to gather data, we will develop questionnaires for the customers who visit Carrefour and also
for the customers who prefer smaller marts for their shopping needs. There will be two questionnaires
one for each target audience. One will gauge the convenience of the existing customers focusing mainly
on the parking aspect of the whole experience of shopping at Carrefour and the other will gauge the
reasons for the selection of smaller marts over.

After the data has been gathered, we will analyze it. This will allow is to determine whether the system
in place needs improvement through IT. Only after the fact that the data suggests it can be improved,
we will move to our next step.
Analysis
This involves the consultations between the end consumer i.e. people coming to Carrefour for shopping
with the IT experts that will be making the proposed system. This helps the IT team know what the
customers want the business requirements to be from the system. The two main activities involved in
analysis phase are:

Gathering the business requirements by consulting, some of which are that customers want the map of
the parking lot on a screen in their gadgets for the driver to see which slots are empty to park. Then
while parking or reversing the system should tell the distance remaining with the walls and other cars,
wrongly parked car can be notified to the driver immediately which he can rectify. Then comes the stage
of prioritizing the business requirements. Some are more important than the others and needed to be
complete first. The scope of working is made here so everyone is clear what the main target to achieve
first is. Here the list is, the system of empty parking slots should be first then distance teller and then the
notification to the driver.

Design
Design phase includes the technical blueprint of how the system will run. Technical architecture is the
first activity in this phase, the software development process, the client/server technology, the number
of tiers needed for the package architecture, the database design, the data structure design is all
defined in this phase. It experts after knowing the needs of the end consumers set out a plan to develop
which can cover all the aspects. A logical system is envisioned at this stage. It is utmost important to
know what is going to be created before programming is started. How the program would work for
different types of cars, how will the software work on a day when there is extreme load? Will there be
accidents. The architectural designs of hardware and software that will best suit the organization’s
system and future needs. Hardware equipment such as cameras, sensors etc. need to be placed at the
right places where they can be linked with the soft wares and be most effective. Also the schedules
where the movement is the most needs special focus as there will be complications. Now the next
activity is Designing System Models in which designing the systems model will be graphically creating a
model from graphical user interface (GUI), GUI screen design, and databases, to placement of objects on
screen. A prototype will be made which can be shared with numerous customers to take their feedback.

Development
Here the actual system which was designed in the last phase is developed in its desired shape. Coding
and programming is done here. This also includes two primary development activities. One is building
the technical architecture where a language is used to code which can be Java, Python, C++ or some
other. Then comes building the databases. This is done mainly through Microsoft SQL but others help
also. If the design is done thoroughly with great focus incorporating the customer feedback then the
coding becomes easy.
Testing
The testing phase of the SDLC would include a holistic approach to testing the integration, physical
devices (Unit) and Performance testing. All these methods of testing would be used to arrive to a certain
conclusion about the effectiveness of the system of smart parking.

Integration Testing
The integration testing part would include a test of the system as a whole by running test software for a
certain time period as deemed necessary. We will simulate the test results by keeping days with the
most traffic in view and testing out the load management of the system and any shortcomings. This
would be then analyzed to form a feasibility report of the system as a whole and could include
functional aspects such as, is the system working to full capacity and is it effective? Is it convenient to
place sensors and other technical equipment for the parking lot?

Unit Testing
The unit testing method for the software would allow us to use procedural steps to ensure that the
cameras, sensors, screen displays and ticket dispensers would have the sufficient capacity to be used for
the respective application and periodic checks would be done by on-site personnel to make sure that
the units are being tested out while using various parameters such as humidity, temperature and
weather patterns. Then accordingly the technical units that would help us gather and display data would
be fully integrated.

Performance Testing
The performance of the system as a whole would be tested to see if any visible effect of the integration
of the system in the parking spaces had any effect on the efficiency of traffic and parking management in
the designated area. The Performance would be tested in the form of block testing and different areas
of the parking would be separated and tested that how much time is being saved per parking block of
the customer as well as the system users of the integrated software by defining certain parameters of
performance such as load, stress and throughput testing.

Implementation
The implementation phase would consist of the training of the on-site support and operations staff by
the developers of the software and they would be trained to handle the system parameters accordingly.
The training would consist of multiple phase where the staff would be dispatched with information
about the running of the system and its purpose, it would be explained to the staff what could be the
strong and weak aspects of the system so that timely reporting of equipment failures can be dealt with
and non-technical people can also understand the basics. The staff would be communicated the relevant
sources for the solution of common problems with technical equipment and they would also be
connected to the designated person (who was the software developer staff) to help them resolve any
process understanding and re-iterations.

Maintenance
The maintenance of the system would be carried out by the technicians who would be on-site in
multiple shifts and will be encouraged by the responsible support staff to check the technical aspects of
the system periodically (after every 5 days or weekly) so that any sort of undesired happening can be
reported and amended. Plus the review of the system’s effectiveness would be done by the staff
monthly to check the various data sources and any relevant shortcomings in the implementation and
operation. If any profound proof of failure of the system would arise then it would suitable to mitigate
the risk by informing the stakeholders in the system implementation and relevant company staff. The
maintenance would also include small work jobs such as cleaning of the equipment periodically and
quick replacement of any failed technical part so that data gathering can be accurate.

Requirements
Data Collection
Planning Socondary & primary research

Gathering business requirements

Prioritizing business requirements
Analysis

Identifying Technical architecture

Designing system models
Design

Buiding technical architecture

Developm Building the databses
ent

Integration testing
unit testing
Testing Performance testing

Training onsite and operational staff

Implement Coordination with design team
ation

On-site technicians
Maintenan Analysis & review of systems
ce

Bibliography
Lu, D. (n.d.). Sage Journals. Retrieved from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1064804614526202

Wael Alsafrey, K. J. (n.d.). Smart Car Parking System Solution for the Internet of Things in Smart Cities.
Retrieved from IEEE Xplore: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8442004