Model-driven Systems Engineering Research Articles

Research on visual simulation for complex weapon equipment interoperability based on MBSE

AbstractAs military reforms continue to develop, the battlefield environment is becoming increasingly complex, and traditional single-service combat methods have evolved into integrated joint and collaborative information operations that break down service boundaries on land, sea, and air. The level of weapon system confrontation has also evolved into a system-to-system confrontation. Traditional document-based system architecture design methods can no longer address the complexity and emergent challenges of weapon system construction. In this paper, based on model-driven system engineering, an open, integrated, model-driven weapon equipment interaction system that supports human interaction was constructed using the SysML modeling language and Magicdraw modeling tool. The Unreal Engine 4 landscape building function was used to construct a virtual battlefield environment, and a communication server was developed using C# language to perform visual simulation of interoperability between weapon systems. Based on model-driven weapon equipment interoperability, visual simulation is used to ensure that the function of the weapon equipment system meets the requirements of combat and the combat effectiveness of the system is maximized.

XDEVS: A toolkit for interoperable modeling and simulation of formal discrete event systems

AbstractEmploying Modeling and Simulation (M&S) extensively to analyze and develop complex systems is the norm today. The use of robust M&S formalisms and rigorous methodologies is essential to deal with complexity. Among them, the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) provides a solid framework for modeling structural, behavior and information aspects of any complex system. This gives several advantages to analyze and design complex systems: completeness, verifiability, extensibility, and maintainability. DEVS formalism has been implemented in many programming languages and executable on multiple platforms. In this paper, we describe the features of an M&S framework called xDEVS that builds upon the prevalent DEVS Application Programming Interface (API) for both modeling and simulation layers, promoting interoperability between the existing platform‐specific (C++, Java, Python) DEVS implementations. Additionally, the framework can simulate the same model using sequential, parallel, or distributed architectures. The M&S engine has been reinforced with several strategies to improve performance, as well as tools to perform model analysis and verification. Finally, xDEVS also facilitates systems engineers to apply the vision of model‐based systems engineering (MBSE), model‐driven engineering (MDE), and model‐driven systems engineering (MDSE) paradigms. We highlight the features of the proposed xDEVS framework with multiple examples and case studies illustrating the rigor and diversity of application domains it can support.

Extracting SBVR Business Vocabularies from UML Use Case Models Using M2M Transformations Based on Drag-and-Drop Actions

In the domain of model-driven system engineering, model-to-model (M2M) transformations present a very relevant topic because they may provide much-needed automation capabilities to the whole CASE-supported system development life cycle. Nonetheless, it is observed that throughout the whole development process M2M transformations are spread unevenly; in this respect, the phases of Business Modeling and System Analysis are arguably the most underdeveloped ones. The main novelty and contributions of this paper are the presented set of model-based transformations for extracting well-structured SBVR business vocabularies from visual UML use case models, which utilizes M2M transformation technology based on the so-called drag-and-drop actions. The conducted experiments show that this new development provides the same transformation power while introducing more flexibility to the model development process as compared to our previously developed approach for (semi-)automatic extraction of SBVR business vocabularies from UML use case models.

Historical Civil Registration Record Transcription Using an eXtreme Model Driven Approach

Modelling is considered as a universal approach to define and simplify real-world applications through appropriate abstraction. Model-driven system engineering identifies and integrates appropriate concepts, techniques, and tools which provide important artefacts for interdisciplinary activities. In this paper, we show how we used a model-driven approach to design and improve a Digital Humanities dynamic web application within an interdisciplinary project that enables history students and volunteers of history associations to transcribe a large corpus of image-based data from the General Register Office (GRO) records. Our model-driven approach generates the software application from data, workflow and GUI abstract models, ready for deployment.

Historical Civil Registration Record Transcription Using an eXtreme Model Driven Approach

Modelling is considered as a universal approach to define and simplify real-world applications through appropriate abstraction. Model-driven system engineering identifies and integrates appropriate concepts, techniques, and tools which provide important artefacts for interdisciplinary activities. In this paper, we show how we used a model-driven approach to design and improve a Digital Humanities dynamic web application within an interdisciplinary project that enables history students and volunteers of history associations to transcribe a large corpus of image-based data from the General Register Office (GRO) records. Our model-driven approach generates the software application from data, workflow and GUI abstract models, ready for deployment.

Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering

To keep up to date, manufacturing enterprises need to use the latest results from the ICT sector, especially when collaborating with external partners in a supply chain and exchanging products and data. This has led to dealing with an increasing amount of heterogeneous information exchanged between partners including machines (physical means), humans and IT in the Supply Chain of ICT Systems (SC-ICTS). In this context, interoperability management is becoming more and more critical, but paradoxically, it is not yet fully efficiently anticipated, controlled and accompanied to recover from incompatibilities issues or failures. This paper intends to present how enterprise modeling, enterprise interoperability and model driven approaches can lead, together with system engineering architecture, to contribute to developing and improving the interoperability in the SC-ICTs. Model Driven System Engineering Architecture (MDSEA) is based on Enterprise Modeling using GRAI Model and its extensions. It gives enterprise internal developments guidelines, but originally, MDSEA is not the considering interoperability that is required between partners when setting a collaboration in the frame of SC-ICTS. As a result, the MDSEA, extended with interoperability concerns, led to the design of the MDISE (Model Driven Interoperability System Engineering) framework, which capitalizes on the research on enterprise interoperability. To finish, some proposals are made to extend the Model System Tool Box (MSTB) and the use of MDISE for Cyber Physical System (CPS) that are relevant components of SC-ICTS.

Automotive real-time operating systems

Automotive embedded systems have become very complex, are strongly integrated, and the safety-criticality and real-time constraints of these systems raise new challenges. Distributed system development, short time-to-market intervals, and automotive safety standards (such as ISO 26262 [8]) require efficient and consistent product development along the entire development lifecycle. The automotive OSEK/VDX standard provides an architecture for distributed real-time units in vehicles and a language aiming in specifying the configuration of real-time OSEK operating systems. The aim of this paper is to enhance a model-driven system-engineering framework with the capability of generating OS configurations from existing high level control system information. Furthermore, to enable the possibility to update stored information from OSEK Implementation Language (OIL) files and support round-trip engineering of real-time operating system (RTOS) configurations. This enables the seamless description of automotive RTOS, from system level requirements to software implementation and therefore ensures consistency and correctness of the configuration. To that aim, a bidirectional tool bridge is proposed based on OSEK OIL exchange format files.

6.6.2 Determining the right solution using SysML and model based systems engineering (MBSE) for trade studies

AbstractWith the recent widespread adoption of the Object Management Group (OMG) Systems Modeling Language (SysML) by the systems engineering community to properly capture system requirements, functional and architectural design, and detailed interfaces and design characteristics, it is a natural next step to apply SysML with proven trade study techniques to leverage a robust approach through which to explore the design space and ensure coverage of nonfunctional and performance requirements. This paper not only shows this robust technique with Model Driven Systems Engineering (MBSE) and SysML, but it also provides a methodology that enables users to properly explore the design space with execution analysis—all from within the design model, something that was often missing from previous techniques around trade study analysis. Having access to the proposed design solutions and being able to perform trade‐off analysis from within an engineering model has numerous benefits, which this paper discusses.