Software Engineering Radio

Recording Venue: Frankfurt
Guest(s): David Anderson & Arne Roock

Host(s): Martin
This episode is part of our series on agile software development. We talk with David Anderson about Kanban, an agile software development method that is quite different from most of the other agile methods out there. We discuss the basic ideas behind Kanban, the differences between Kanban and Scrum and when and why projects can benefit from using Kanban. This episode is done in cooperation with the German magazine ObjektSpektrum (thanks for sharing this interview with us).

Links:

• Limited Work in Progress Society
• David Andersons Blog
• David Anderson on Twitter
• Kanban vs. Scrum by Henrik Kniberg
• Book on Kanban by David Anderson

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Recording Venue: Practical Product Lines
Guest(s): Jan Bosch

Host(s): Markus
This episode is a conversation with Jan Bosch about product line engineering (PLE). Jan has worked in various roles and industries and academia in the context of product lines. In this episode we look at Jan’s view of what is next for product lines: software ecosystems. What is their relationship to PLE and how should PLE change to remain relevant?

Links:

• Wikipedia: Product Family Engineering
• Jan Bosch’s book on PLE

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Recording Venue: OOPSLA 2006
Guest(s): Steffen Schaefer, IBM
Host(s): Markus
In this episode we discuss sensor networks with our guest Steffen Schaefer, who is the Technical Thought Leader for Sensors & Actuator
Solutions at IBM. The discussion resolves around the TREC device, which can be mounted on containers to track them on their journey over seas, railway tracks and roads. The TREC is a small embedded device developed by Steffen’s employer, IBM, that has various sensors and communications channels.

In the episode we first talked about container transport in general, and then looked at how the TREC device works – specifically, it’s hardware, software and power management. We then looked at the necessary backend infrastructure. The main part of the discussion covered the communication between the device and the backend, using technologies such as Zigby, GSM and satellite communications. We also looked at the middleware infrastructures used, such as the MQtt messaging tool.

We closed the episode with a little discussion of the “Internet of Things” and some discussion about embedded software devleopment in general. Note that SE Radio will feature more embedded topics in the future – an introduction to embedded development will be put online soon.

Links:

• Sun Spots – small wireless Java programmable devices from Sun
• Sensor Network solutions from IBM
• Information on intelligent utility networks
• flash demo on How the EPC Network works
• epcglobalinc.org – cross-industry RFID standards
• rfidjournal.com – great source for any kind of information regarding RFID
• interesting workshop papers from OOPSLA06 workshop on Building Software for Sensor Networks. The paper ‘Secure Trade Lane: A Sensor Network Solution for more predictable and more secure container shipments’ contains details on technology and architecture
• information on a pilot project IBM did on tracking containers stuffed with Heineken beer
• MQ Telemetry Transport – Messaging infrastructure for mobile and embedded devices
• Zigbee Alliance – information on the Zigbee standard

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