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Feature interaction problem

Feature interaction is a phenomenon that occurs when functionality of a system (typically consisting of hardware or software) is added or removed. The term feature is used to denote an abstract unit of functionality that a system provides, and therefore feature interaction occurs when the presence of one feature modifies or subverts the operation of another one. Examples of the problem can be found in a number of fields, including computer science, computer engineering, and telephony.

Example

In the context of telephony, a telephone line (the system) typically offers a set of features that include call forwarding and call waiting. Call waiting allows one call to be suspended while a second call is answered, while call forwarding enables a customer to specify a secondary phone number to which additional calls will be forwarded in the event that the customer is already using the phone.

To illustrate the example, we consider a telephone line provided to a customer, and we assume that both call forwarding and call waiting are enabled on the line. When a first call arrives on the line, the phone rings and is answered. Since neither feature is activated by the first call, there is no noticeable problem. When a second call arrives before the first has terminated, the telephone system has a decision to make: whether the call should be forwarded to the secondary number (call forwarding) or the person who answered the first call should be notified that another call has arrived (call waiting). Since this decision has no obvious correct answer, the optimal answer depends on the needs of the customer. This feature interaction is a specific example of a general and common problem that has become prevalent due to increasing system complexity.

In this situation, it is possible that the system’s decision will be made in a non-deterministic fashion due to race conditions and other design factors. The consequences of feature interactions can range from minor irritations to life-threatening software failures, and therefore there is ongoing research that aims to find ways of detecting as well as resolving feature interactions.

External links

Workshops and conferences

The series of Feature Interaction Workshops (FIW) and the International Conferences on Feature Interaction (ICFI) are the primary venues devoted to this problem (ICFI 2007).