THEFOSE - Theoretical Foundations of System Engineering: A first feedback

Beling

INCOSE International Symp

2022

The last decade has seen an increase in calls for theoretical foundations of systems engineering (SE) along with a transformation to a model-based and digital paradigm. This transformation is expected to facilitate improved verification. In fact, the literature suggests that the increased complexity of modern engineered systems is challenging the feasibility of traditional verification methods and requires new methods to cope with the change. Furthermore, a review of the SE literature suggests limited focus on verification research. Our research leverages systems theory to characterize the relationships between the verification artifacts. Specifically, we use systems theoretic morphisms to characterize the equivalence preservation between system requirements and verification requirements as well as between a system design and verification models. Although in initial form as provided in this article, our metamodel of verification artifacts is expected to contribute to the theoretical foundations of SE.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Systems Theoretic Metamodel of Verification Artifacts

Beling

INCOSE International Symp

2022

“…The last decade has seen an increase in calls for theoretical foundations of SE (Triantis and Collopy 2014;Collopy 2015b;Collopy 2015a;INCOSE ;Rousseau and Calvo-Amodio 2019;Rousseau 2020Rousseau , 2019Hammami and Edmonson 2015;Schindel 2019). One major perspective is that a "unifying" theory of SE may not be feasible; however, a need for theoretical foundations remains unresolved (Collopy 2015b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formalizing the Representativeness of Verification Models using Morphisms

Beling

INCOSE International Symp

2022

With the increasing complexity that is being introduced to engineered systems, the literature suggests that verification may benefit from theoretical foundations. In practice and in teaching of system engineering (SE), we typically define a verification model (simulation, test article, etc.) under the assumption that the model is a valid representation of the system design. Is this assumption always true? In this article, we explore the use of system theoretic morphisms to mathematically characterize the validity of representativeness between verification models and corresponding system design.

“…Several efforts in that direction were initiated several decades ago, including von Bertalanffy's General Systems Theory [6], Weiner's Cybernetics [7], Mesarovic and Takahara's general [8] and abstract systems [9] theories, Zeigler's computational systems theory [10], and Wymore's Mathematical Theory of Systems Engineering [11]; after which no other contribution at such scale has been completed. The SE community did not ground its practice upon such foundation at the time and is reclaiming now a new wave of research to unveil the theoretical foundations of SE [12][13][14][15][16][17]. This vision aligns with that of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), which has called for SE to "be grounded in more rigorous foundations of mathematics" [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conjoining Wymore’s Systems Theoretic Framework and the DEVS Modeling Formalism: Toward Scientific Foundations for MBSE

Zeigler²,

2021

Applied Sciences

The objective of this research article is to re-introduce some of the concepts provided by A. Wayne Wymore in his mathematical theory of Model-Based Systems Engineering, discuss why his framework might have not been adopted, and define a potential path to modernize the framework for practical application in the digital age. The dense mathematical theory has never been converted to a practical form. We propose a path to modernization by creating a metamodel of Wymore’s mathematical theory of MBSE. This enables explaining the concepts in simple to understand terms and shows the internal consistency provided by the theory. Furthermore, the metamodel allows for conversion of the theory into software application, for which we show some initial results that open the research to the art of the possible. In recognition of limitation of the theory, we make the case for a merger of the theoretical framework with the enhanced formalism of Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS). This will establish a path toward the scientific foundations for MBSE to enable future implementations of the complementary pairing and their empirical results.