Staged configuration through specialization and multilevel configuration of feature models

Abstract Feature modeling is a key technique for capturing commonalities and variabilities in system families and product lines. In this article, we propose a cardinality‐based notation for feature modeling, which integrates a number of existing extensions of previous approaches. We then introduce and motivate the novel concept of staged configuration. Staged configuration can be achieved by the stepwise specialization of feature models or by multilevel configuration, where the configuration choices available in each stage are defined by separate feature models. Staged configuration is important because, in a realistic development process, different groups and different people make product configuration choices in different stages. Finally, we also discuss how multilevel configuration avoids a breakdown between the different abstraction levels of individual features. This problem, sometimes referred to as 'analysis paralysis', easily occurs in feature modeling because features can denote entities at arbitrary levels of abstraction within a system family. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.