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G52LSS – Large Scale Systems Design

Coursework – Semester 1, Session 2009-2010
Team Number: Team 13
Dung Viet Ho Dac (representative) (dvh09u)
Hasan Siber (hxs08u)
Student Names:
Fahad Al Rogi (fta08u)
Yimeng Wu (yxw18u)

INSTRUCTIONS

This coursework is worth 40% of the module assessment. Please read these instructions carefully.
Marks will be deducted if the coursework does not follow this specification.

Printed and electronic copies should be submitted by 8 December 2009, 16:00 hrs. Please hand-in the
printed copy to the CS Office (room A31) and the electronic copy through the CS submission system,
see web site at the following url: http://support.cs.nott.ac.uk/coursework/cwstud/ (make sure you
submit to the correct coursework code). The electronic copy must be one single pdf file named cw-
teamX (replace X with the number of your team). The last submission date is 18 December 2009 at
16:00 hrs. A penalty of 5% absolute will be applied for each late working day, or part day, after 11
December, 2009. After 18 December 2009, submissions will only be accepted directly to the lecturer
and supported by a valid extenuating circumstances form (ECF) which should be approved by your
personal tutor.

This page, completed with your details above and leaving the last column of the table below blank,
must be included as the cover page of your final coursework. Note that the details in the table above
must be typed.

Formatting: text must be typed and diagrams produced electronically, pages in your coursework must
be numbered, paper size A4 printed in one side only. The answer to each question should start on a
new page and be clearly labelled with the question number on the top right-hand corner. The
document should be stapled in the top left corner (please no folders for the printed hard copy).

The table below shows for each question: space limit and marks available. Note that the total number
of sheets in the final coursework should be maximum 12 in addition to this cover page.

Page Marks Marks

Question Word/Space Limit
Number Available Awarded
Q1a 2 pages 2 10
Q1b 1 page 4 10
Q1c 1 page 5 15
Q1d 2 pages 6 30
Q1e 2 pages 8 15
Q1f 1 page 10 10
Q1g 1 page 11 10
Total: ------------ ------- 100
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Question 1a:
Identified Opportunities to be developed Approaches and development

Online booking System Building a website that the bookings can be

Secured Payment and Billing System
done by customer in the form of one click
booking and service description will be taken as
input in the system for the controller to analyse
it for assigning and scheduling processes. These
processes will also be available on the website
for the customer to view during the service.
When customers complete their booking form
and choose the category of service to be carried
out. The system will immediately calculate the
standard fees accordingly. Any outstanding fees
occurred during the repair will be subject to the
bill and send out via email to customers.

Scheduling System This system could be also operated and

embedded to Manager System. In order to
reduce the idle time of crew, their work status
should be updated to the Manager System;
once their work have been done, the manager
system will look for a waiting order need to be
processed and assign them to that task.

Assignment System This task will be basically held by a computer

system named Manager System in which all
information was transferred from the online
booking including customer details, addresses,
and categories of problems and description of
problems. The Manager System works like a
database managing all inputs and controlled by
the controller. The category was chosen would
take the important role in assigning which
specific technician with that such needed
specialist to handle the problem along with how
many of technician will be sent out for tasks
depends on residence or small firm. Manager
system obviously organize all technicians detail
contains their specialist in hardware or software
comparing with those specific issues has just
been ordered and giving the appropriate
assignment.

Online feedback System This enhances the performance of the webpage

as well as improves the productivity in services.
Customer will no longer send out the feedback
in envelop which is absolutely making such
ignorance.
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System Request

Project Sponsor: E-Solve Consultancy Firm

Bossiness Need: This project is a computer System called The Manager System. It has been initiated to
systemize the processes of scheduling the time for staff and Assigning jobs to them, which will lead
those processes to be much faster and efficient.

Business Requirement:
Using the Manager System all the booking information will be retrieved from the web-site and stored in
a data base which is going to be used to do the scheduling and assigning according to some inner
processes. The functionality of the system is listed below:

• Stores data of the input and information of staff e.g. specialities.

• Receives information about enquiries from the web-site.
• Checks availability of staff.
• Chooses the right number of staff according to enquiries.
• Stores the jobs and staff for each enquiry and produce job identification codes.
• Calculate the cost of the job with information given by the Accounting Department.
• Returns the bill to the website.

Business Value:
We aim that the Manager System will help the company to automate the process of assigning jobs and
scheduling employee’s work shifts which will lead to reducing the human work need. it will also reduce
the costs of communication between clients and the company by making them use the website to
make the bookings. Moreover, this approach will help the company’s work to be more organised and
avoid accidental errors made by humans. Finally, the Manager System will give an instant feedback of
the estimated cost of the services that he/she demand.

Special Issues or Constraints:

This system will be linked to three other different systems Accounting System, Controller and website.
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Question 1b:
The Manager System proposed in question 1a stay within the type of Decision support system since it
helps improve the organization of staff members, allocating the task intelligently and manage customer
requests for giving out decision all task assignment.

Functional requirements:
• Store all inputs pushed down by online booking page

• Categorizing type of job to be executed

• Analysing number of technicians to be sent out

• Store all technicians details including their specialist and contact details

• Compare categories requested and problem description to technician specialist

• Quick check all available technicians and needed specialist ready to be assigned

• Assigning the job to technicians

• Sent out assignment emails to technicians.

Non-functional requirements:
• Operational:

– The system should work on any platform and should be compatible with all version of
web browser
– The system should be assigned the attribute to read and write for controller and write
only for technicians with highly edited information.
• Performance: the system should be available 24/7/365

• Security: the system authorizes the access to controller only

No requirements analysis technique is needed to point out requirements.

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Question 1c:
Questionnaire

This questionnaire consists of questions for the relevant to the personnel. This questionnaire involves
questions for two types of staff: Management and Technicians, therefore it will be divided into two as
headlines.

1. Technicians’ Questionnaire:

1) Do you prefer the human interaction (Controller) or the computer system to get your tasks
from?

2) Which aspects of the tasks would you like to be viewed on the system?

3) Who do you consult when you are not able to finish the task?

4) How did you communicate with other technicians when there is a customer request that involves
multiple tasks?

5) Would you prefer the system having a discussion board for consulting and communication
purposes?

6) Do you think the raw task information given by the customer /rather than the processed
information by the controller would be enough to solve the problem the customer is having?

1. Managers’ Questionnaire:

1) Which aspects of the customer request would you like the view on the system?

2) Do you want to see the technicians’ names and/or details of the task, or just the information of
the job done?

3) If a customer requests service about the multiple difficulties they are having (i.e. difficulties
that will hardware, software and broadband technicians work on.) How do you detect errors of
technicians that can rise in the process? How did you detect which kind of technicians and the
error details?

4) What should be the level of detail of the description of a task after a technician is done with it?

5) Would you want your customers to able view the process of their request in the system or just
start-finish dates of the process that will be held for request?
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Question 1d:

Context DFD

Customer Information
Number of PCs Job Assignment Technicians
Online Booking
ProblemCategory Manager
System
System
ProblemDescription

Level 0 DFD
1
2
Maintain
Maintain Cars
Technicians
Information
Infomation

Technician Information Car Information

Technicians

D1 Technicians D2 Cars

Update Car Availability

Job Assignment

Car Information Request

Request Technician Information

3 Customer Information
Create Jobs Number of PCs
Problem Category Online Booking
Update Technician Availability System
Problem Description

Job Information

D3 Jobs

• The Manager System retrieves problem and customer details form the Online Booking System.
Based on these details, after requesting information from the Technicians data store and the
Cars data store, it creates a job and assigns it to some technicians. More specifically, all
incoming data from Online Booking System will be throwing out all possible decision in
advanced onto other units. The Create Jobs unit stores the primitive request on specific
specialist from customers, sending out a message to Maintain technicians information unit for
technician availability. After the period of correspondence, the number of technician availability
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will be forwarded to Create Job as well as a request on Technician Information according to the
service requested for the appropriate wanted specialist preceding giving the decision on number
of technicians for a single task which depends on number of PC. Number of cars in Maintain
Cars Information unit keeps updating number of vehicle in garage to Create Job unit only if the
services are ordered. After retrieving all information of technicians and cars, a job will be
initialized and Create job unit will publish out the model assignment.

• Demonstrating an assumption on how the whole process maintains the data flows and associate
with others by given request:

1 hardware technician assembled

1 car is ready
ume a customer request a service on Hardware Category Customer details
Problem description
e number of PC need to be assisted is 1

e contact information and further problem description was given

Received category requested: Hardware

Received number of PC: 1
Received customer details:……
Received problem description:……

15 technicians available

2 hardware expert matches request 6 cars

Sent out 1 technician available

1 car

sent out

Service needed: hardware 1 car needed

15 technicians available
2 hardware expert
13 software expert No.PC: 1 1 technician
Waiting for specialist request …..

Cars in garage: 6
Waiting for order request….
Assignment
Technician

Question 1e:
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User Story:

The user story will be a simple description of the requirements of the project from user’s point of view.
Moreover, the description is simple sentences should include any interaction between user and the
system in a consequential sequence which will give a sort of story mode to that description. For this
system, we have two kinds of users: Technicians and Controller. Technicians are lower level user; their
interaction with the system is limited and governed by the system rules. On the other hand, the
controller is a high level user who is able to interact more with the system. Furthermore, the lower
level users can do some tasks such as daily schedule and description of jobs for today. The controller
can do more complicated tasks than the technicians and affects the work of Manager System. For
example, the controller can access the data of jobs, cars and also the controller can delete or insert a
job in the job list if it was an urgent.

1> Technicians view their daily schedule.

2> Technicians see details of jobs they need to do.
3> Technicians see their team mates.
4> Management System retrieves data from web-site.
5> Management System updates the available cars, technicians and jobs databases.
6> Management System resolves the type of team to be sent.
7> Management System retrieves data from Technicians, Cars and jobs databases
8> Management System selects teams for each job.
9> The controller views the daily job list and teams assigned to those jobs
10> The controller can delete finished jobs from the schedule.
11> The controller can insert new jobs in the daily list in case of urgency.

Question 1f:
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Four entities represent each unit taking part in the whole proposed process in which Request and
Information Retrieved holds the accounts of input information and all responding data from Technician
and Car entities. Category and Customer details within the Request and Information Retrieved entity
accordingly related to Availability and Specialist in Technician entity. The information analysed from
Technician entity will be linked back and hold in Request and Information Retrieved entity. The similar
process is also carried out between Request and Information Retrieved and Car entity.

All collective information match the request will be transferred to Job entity including Technician(s)
which associates with Technician Detail in Request and Information Retrieved. Specialist, customer
details and problem specifications associate to themselves in Request and Information Retrieve entity.
Everything is on the set and ready to be delivered to chosen Technician(s).
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Question 1g:
Name: Assign Crews to Jobs

Description: Assign individuals or pairs of technicians to jobs based on the list of pre-booked service
calls, giving priority to urgent jobs.

Input Data Flows: JobList, Technicians

Output Data Flows: Job assignment

Process Logic:

Sort JobList according to priority

FOREACH Job IN JobList

IF Job is private THEN

SELECT Technician FROM Technicians WHERE Technician meets Job’s requirements

Assign Job to Technician

ELSE IF Job’s customer is firm with more than 5 PCs OR Job is solving network problems

OR Job is network installation THEN

SELECT TechnicianPair FROM Technicians WHERE TechnicianPair meet Job’s

requirements

Assign Job to TechnicianPair

ENDIF

END FOREACH