A New Paradigm for Requirements Specification and Analysis of System-of-Systems

摘要

In a system-of-systems, the number of possible combinations of interactions among the systems is theoretically infinite. System "unravelings" have an intelligence of their own as they expose hidden connections, neutralize redundancies, and exploit chance circumstances for which no system engineer might plan. In this paper, we propose a new paradigm for system-of-systems design. Rather than decompose each system within the system-of-systems in a functional fashion, we treat the system-of-systems as a single entity that is comprised of abstract classes. We demonstrate how our paradigm can be used to both avoid the introduction of accidental complexity and control essential complexity by applying object-oriented concepts of decentralized control flow, minimal messaging between classes, implicit case analysis, and information-hiding mechanisms. We argue that our paradigm can aid in the creation of sound designs for the system-of-systems in contrast to creating a federation of systems through a highly coupled communication medium.