Requirements traceability is defined as “the ability to describe and follow the life of a requirement, in both a forward and backward direction (i.e., from its origins, through its development and specification, to its subsequent deployment and use, and through periods of ongoing refinement and iteration in any of these phases)” [39]. A trace defines a relationship between two artifacts. For example, a vertical
trace between a lower level requirement and a higher level one could define a “refines” relationship, whereas a trace from an executable method to a requirement could define an “implements” relationship. Typical traceability techniques include matrices, hyperlinks, or traceability tools embedded into requirements management tools [39,40].