Scenario as Specification: Structuring the Development and Deployment of Automated Driving

Automated Driving System features at SAE Level 3 are already state-of-the-art and can be activated for initial driving tasks. The increasing complexity of the systems and the driving environment challenges the release of features at high traveling speeds or automation levels (e.g., SAE Level 4). To counteract, the automotive industry uses, on the one hand, systems engineering to break down the system into more manageable subsystems and, on the other hand, scenario-based approaches to break down the world into more manageable traffic scenarios. Typically, both approaches are managed independently whereas the former approach focuses on processes such as requirements engineering and the latter one on the verification and validation.In this work, we propose a novel holistic approach by using the scenario-based approach already during requirements engineering for Automated Driving System features. Therefore, we propose (1) the Scenario as Specification approach including a novel holistic scenario structure together with specification rules and (2) practical examples from the perspective of different engineering disciplines in the Automated Driving System domain.Our work aims to unify the view on scenarios in the industry and research communities and lay the foundation for reusable scenarios and test cases.