Stein, C.; Schnieder, E.; Schnieder, L.:
Methodical Terminology Engineering for GNSS-Certification for an Interdisciplinary Application.
CERGAL 2010 - International Symposium on Certification of GNSS Systems & Services, Rostock, April 2010.
Blasting linguistic barriers for the certification of Satellite Navigation systems by methodical terminology engineering Eckehard Schnieder, Lars Schnieder, Christian Stein Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Traffic Safety and Automation Engineering, Langer Kamp 8, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany e-mail: {schnieder / l.schnieder / stein}@iva.ing.tu-bs.de Abstract: Qualification and certification for mission and safety critical applications are major cornerstones in the successful operational roll-out of Satellite Navigation systems (e.g. EGNOS and Galileo). Key differentiators of systems like Galileo are e.g. certifiability of the system / signals and service guarantees for the users. These differentiators are important drivers for potential revenues and resulting business cases. Interdisciplinarity and the resulting Babylonian confusion currently is the main challenge for the successful implementation of those systems: - The specification and implementation requires the successful cooperation of experts from different engineering sciences who bring in their domain-specific terminology. - The certification needs to be performed against a variety of standards relevant for the individual application domain. This means that the terminology contained in those standards is inconsistent and sometimes vague. In order to meet the currently existing problems stated above a new approach is required. A project that deals with interdisciplinary communication requires an interdisciplinary approach. Engineers, computer scientists and linguists have designed an approach using an epistemological base, which is expected to accomplish more than any other terminology management system so far. The currently existing Babylonian confusion can be overcome if a methodical terminology management is introduced which comprises the following three elements: - Semiotic basis: The methodical framework to overcome the existing problems is founded on a solid semiotic basis. Based on the novel trilateral model of a linguistic sign both the interconnectedness of terms within terminologies and the clear separation of domain-specific language use can be achieved. - Terminology Engineering Process (TEP): This process is a novel approach towards terminology management. It is the idea of this web-based approach to allow for a distributed and collaborative elaboration of and agreement on a common terminology. This approach is based on the principles of consensus, openness and transparency known from standardization. - Terminology Management System (IGLOS): Currently existing terminology management systems are not suitable to master the challenges in conjunction with an interdisciplinary terminology. For this reason the semiotic model of linguistic sign is incorporated into the novel terminology management system IGLOS (acronym for intelligent glossary). The terminology management system IGLOS allows all users to enter new terms, change existing terms or delete deprecated terms during the Terminology Engineering Process. The methodical approach towards terminology management is currently being tested intensely within the scope of various research projects in the field of satellite navigation. In order to do this currently existing terminologies are integrated into the IGLOS, are cross-linked and validated by domain experts. The result is accessible to all persons involved in the project via a web interface and can be continuously commented, amended and improved. The feedback from industrial practice is thus used to improve both the IGLOS terminology management system itself as well as the interdisciplinary terminology incorporated in it. Based on a commonly agreed-on terminological basis it will be possible to master the challenges of successful specification, implementation and certification of Satellite Navigation systems in an interdisciplinary context.