Using SysML to Evolve Systems of Systems

During interviews of SoSE teams in support of the SoSE guidebook [DoD, 2008], it became clear that modeling and simulation (M&S) use was limited. Those SoSE teams that employed M&S used it to understand complex and emergent behaviors of systems that interact with each other, explore new capability options, identify potential integration issues, evaluate current SoS architecture and potential architecture changes, and support test and evaluation, especially
end-to-end performance. However, use was limited mostly to those situations where there were existing models and simulations available and that these existing model and simulations were at an appropriate fidelity for the area of interest [DoD, 2008].

To further probe the use of M&S in the SoS environment, a survey of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) M&S Committee was conducted. The NDIA M&S committee membership includes M&S experts from industry, government, and academia. This group was asked to identify actual experiences with M&S in the SoS environment, potential applications of M&S that have not yet been realized, and enablers and inhibitors to M&S in the SoS environment. The NDIA M&S survey report [Dahmann et al., 2009] identified several models currently being used to support SoSE as well as additional potential modeling opportunities.