From Requirements to Test Cases: An NLP-Based Approach for High-Performance ECU Test Case Automation

Automating test case specification generation is vital for improving the efficiency and accuracy of software testing, particularly in complex systems like high-performance Electronic Control Units (ECUs). This study investigates the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, including Rule-Based Information Extraction and Named Entity Recognition (NER), to transform natural language requirements into structured test case specifications. A dataset of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{4 0 0}$</tex> feature element documents from the Polarion tool was used to evaluate both approaches for extracting key elements such as signal names and values. The results reveal that the Rule-Based method outperforms the NER method, achieving 95% accuracy for more straightforward requirements with single signals, while the NER method, leveraging SVM and other machine learning algorithms, achieved 77.3% accuracy but struggled with complex scenarios. Statistical analysis confirmed that the Rule-Based approach significantly enhances efficiency and accuracy compared to manual methods. This research highlights the potential of NLP-driven automation in improving quality assurance, reducing manual effort, and expediting test case generation, with future work focused on refining NER and hybrid models to handle greater complexity.