Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering Course Notes

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INTRODUCTION TO
2 SYSTEMS
ENGINEERING
Orkun Zorba, Ph.D., 2021
Contents
Introduction, Systems Engineering

1. Sample Systems
2. Systems Engineering Definitions
3. Systems Engineering Concepts
4.Socio-Technical Systems
5. Systems Engineering Process
6. SIMILAR Process
7. Models of Product Life Cycle
8.System Quality Attributes
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Sample
1
Systems
Let’s start with some sample systems
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Defense systems
▸ Platforms
▸ Weapon
Systems
▸ Sensor Systems
▸ Communication
Systems
▸ Information
Systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Defense systems: A frigate

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Space systems
▸ Spacecraft
▸ Launch system
▸ Space segment
▸ Ground segment
▸ Spacecrafts;
«launch», «reach»,
«leave» «orbit»,
«reentry», «land»,
«recovery»

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

E-commerce systems
1. Servers
2. End-user devices
3. Software

▸ Governmental
regulations
▸ Logistics
▸ Employment
▸ Customer satisfaction
▸ Distribution channels
▸ Payment types
▸ ... 7
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Internet of things
▸ Consumer applications
▹ Smart home, Elder care
▸ Commercial applications
▹ Medical and healthcare,
Transportation, Building and
home automation
▸ Industrial applications
▹ Manufacturing, Agriculture
▸ Infrastructure applications
▹ Metropolitan scale
deployments, Energy
management,
Environmental monitoring,
Living lab 8
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Smart cities
▸ SMART
▸ Manufacturing
▸ Government
▸ Mobility
▸ Health
▸ Agriculture
▸ Energy
▸ Transportation
▸ Education
▸ ... 9
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

➢ Systems covers sub-systems.

➢ Behavior of a system must be considered together
with the system.
➢ External entities can also be considered as a part of a
system.
➢ One system may have lots of different application
areas.
➢ Bigger systems: system-of-systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Example of systems
Economic Communications Educational Entertainment Financial Government
systems systems systems systems systems systems

Environmental Medical Judicial Corporate Revenue Insurance

systems systems systems systems systems systems

Taxation Religious Licensing Social Military Psychological

systems systems systems systems systems systems

Food Parks and

Cultural Public safety Transportation Environmental
distribution recreation
systems systems systems systems
systems systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Engineered complex systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Engineered complex systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering
2
Definitions
What is there in encyclopedias?
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Who are systems engineers?

▸ At the heart of creating new
systems
▸ System concept, architecture and
design
▸ Complexity and risks of systems
▸ Whether the system
actually works as intended

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

What is systems engineering?

▸ Interdisciplinary field
of engineering and management
▸ Focuses on how to design and
manage complex systems
▸ System thinking principles

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

What is a system?
▸ «A system is a construct or collection People Hardware
of different elements that together
produce results not obtainable by the
elements alone.» Software Facilities
Consensus of INCOSE Fellows

Policies Documents

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Int’l Council on Systems Engineering

▸ A not-for-profit membership
organization
INCOSE
▸ Interdisciplinary principles and
practices
▸ Realization of successful systems
▸ Connecting systems engineering
professionals
▸ Developing the global community of
systems engineers

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems engineering definition by

▸ «Systems Engineering is an INCOSE
interdisciplinary approach and means
to enable the realization of successful
Business
systems.» needs

▹ Defining customer needs Quality

▹ Documenting requirements
product
▹ Design synthesis
Technical
needs
▹ System validation

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems engineering definition by

EIA-632
▸ «Systems engineering encompasses;
▹ The technical efforts related to the development, manufacturing,
verification, deployment, operations, support disposal of, and user
training for, system products and processes;
▹ The definition and management of the system configuration;
▹ The translation of the system definition into work breakdown structures;
▹ The development of information for management decision making.»

▸ EIA-632 Standard: Processes for Engineering a System (1999)

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems engineering definition by

▸ «An interdisciplinary approach encompassing the
entire technical effort to evolve and verify an
integrated and life-cycle balanced set of system
people, product, and process solutions that satisfy
customer needs.»
▸ «Systems engineering, technique of using knowledge
and
from various branches of engineering and science to
introduce technological innovations into the planning
and development stages of a system.»

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering
3
Concepts
Where to find details of concepts
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Basic core concepts

Examine all
Understand the Translate the
feasible
whole problem problem into
alternatives
before you try to measurable
before selecting
solve it requirements
a solution

Make sure to Make sure you

Document test the total consider the
everything system before total system life
delivering it cycle*

* The birth to death concept extends to maintenance, replacement and decommission.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

What helps shape a systems engineer?

Other Overall
engineering process
disciplines

Systems
thinking

Particular perspective

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge

Body of Knowledge and

Curriculum to Advance
Systems Engineering
(BKCASE) project

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Parts and knowledges of SEBoK

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015
Systems and software engineering – system life cycle processes

A common framework for describing the life cycle of systems

A set of processes and associated terminology

2015:1 -> Application on

Normative defense programs
Overview Conformace
References
2015:2 -> Technical reviews
and audits
System Life
Key 2015:4 -> Life cycle
Application Cycle
Concepts management
Process
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

IEEE 15288 vs. SEBoK

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Note that:
INCOSE: International Council on Systems Engineering
EIA-632: A standard defining the processes for an
engineering system
SEBoK: Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge
IEEE 15288: International standard for systems and
software engineering

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Socio-Technical
4
Systems
Technical and Socio-Technical
Difference
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

System categories
Technical computer-based systems

• Hardware and software

• Operators and processes are not part of the
system.
• The system is not self-aware.

Socio-technical systems

• Systems include technical systems

• Also processes and people who use it
• Governed by organisational policies and rules
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Socio-technical system characteristics

Emergent Non-deterministic Organizational

properties objectives

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Examples of emergent properties

Repairabi
Volume Reliability Security Usability
lity

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Influences on reliability

Hardware Software Operator

reliability reliability reliability
hardware an incorrect operator make
component output an error
failing software does
repair that not wear out
component

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems
5
Engineering Process
Input-Process-Output Flow
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

The systems engineering process

Requirements System
definition decommissioning

System System
design evolution

Sub-system System
development installation

System
integration

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

1. System requirements definition

▸ Three types of requirement defined at this stage

▹ Abstract functional requirements.

▹ System properties.
▹ Undesirable characteristics.

▸ Should also define overall organisational objectives for the system.

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

2. The system design process

Partition Define sub-system
requirements interfaces

Identify Specify sub-system

sub-systems functionality

Assign requirements
to sub-systems

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

3. Sub-system development
▪ Typically parallel projects developing the hardware, software and
communications.
▪ May involve some COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf) systems
procurement.
▪ Lack of communication across implementation teams.
▪ Bureaucratic and slow mechanism for proposing system changes.

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

4. System integration

▪ The process of putting hardware, software and people together.

▪ Should be tackled incrementally.
▪ Interface problems between sub-systems
▪ May be problems with uncoordinated deliveries of system
components.

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

5. System installation
▪ Customer’s environment
▪ Environmental assumptions
▪ Human resistance to the introduction of a new system
▪ Coexist with alternative systems for some time
▪ May be physical installation problems
▪ Operator training has to be identified

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

6. System evolution
▪ Evolution is inherently costly
▪ Changes must be analysed from
▪ Unanticipated problems can arise
▪ Original design decisions
▪ System structure is corrupted
▪ Existing systems which must be maintained are sometimes called
legacy systems.

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

7. System decommissioning

▪ Taking the system out of service after its useful lifetime

▪ May require removal of materials
▪ Should be planned for in the system design by encapsulation
▪ May require data to be restructured and converted to be used in
some other system

System System Design Sub-system System Integration System Installation System Evolution System
requirements Development Decommission
definition

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

The reference process: IEEE 15288

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Note that:
There are different types of systems engineering
process applications. «V-model» is one of the most
widely used one.
Process in V-model starts with requirements and ends
with decommissioning.
ISO standard is a good reference for systems
engineering process.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

6 SIMILAR
A Sample Process
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Systems engineering process

The Systems Engineering Process from A. T. Bahill and B. Gissing, Re-evaluating

systems engineering concepts using systems thinking, IEEE Transaction on Systems,
Man and Cybernetics, Part C: Applications and Reviews, 28 (4), 516-527, 1998.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Similar

State, Investigate, Model, Integrate, Launch, Assess and Re-evaluate

Note: Systems Engineering Process is not sequential. The functions are
performed in a parallel and iterative manner.
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

1. State the problem

Inputs from stakeholders

What must be done

Top-level functions

Words/sentences or models

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

2. Investigate alternatives

Alternatives using different criteria

Models, simulation, prototypes

Preliminary design

Compliance of capability

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

3. Model the system

Best alternative design

Detail design, implementation

Physcical analogs, analytic

equations, state machines, etc.
Tradeoff studies, risk management

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

4. Integrate

Bring things together

Interface between subsystems

Amount of information to be
exchanged
Efficient processes for evolving
systems

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

5. Launch the system

Produce the outputs

Build or buy, integrate and test

Verify and validate

Map functions to components

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

6. Assess performance

Metrics to evaluate the results

Technical performance measures

Measurements and logging

No measure no control, no control

no improvement

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

7. Re-evaluate

Feedback mechanism

Continual process

All loops may not be used

Observed outputs

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

SIMILAR vs. 15288

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Models of Product
7 Life Cycle
Product and Project Development
Steps
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Waterfall

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Waterfall
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Simple and easy to use • No working software is produced
• Easy to manage until the end.
• Phases are completed one at a • High amounts of risk.
time. • Not a good model for complex
• Works well for smaller projects.
projects. • Poor model for long projects.
• Clearly defined stages. • Risk and uncertainty is high.
• Well understood milestones.
• Difficult to measure progress.
• Easy to arrange tasks.
• Cannot accommodate changing
• Process and results are well
documented. requirements.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

V-Model

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

V-Model
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Simple and easy to use. • Very rigid and least flexible.
• Testing activities like planning • No early prototypes of the
happens before coding. software are produced.
• Proactive defect tracking. • If any changes happen in
• Avoids the downward flow of midway, then the test
the defects. documents along with
• Works well for small projects requirement documents has to
where requirements are
be updated.
easily understood.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Spiral

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Spiral
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Software is produced early in • It is not suitable for small
the software life cycle. projects as it is expensive.
• It is best • It is much more complex than
development model to follow other models.
due to the risk analysis and • Too much dependable on Risk
risk handling at every phase. Analysis.
• Flexibility in requirements. • Difficulty in time management.
• It is good for large and
• End of the project may not be
complex projects.
known early.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

System Quality
8 Attributes
Non-Functional Requirements
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

System quality attributes

Non-functional requirements used to
evaluate the performance of a system.

These are sometimes named «ilities»

after the suffix many of the words share.

They are usually architecturally

significant requirements that require
architect’s attention.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

System quality attributes

accessibility degradability installability producibility securability
accountability determinability integrity provability simplicity
accuracy demonstrability interchangeability recoverability stability
adaptability dependability interoperability relevance standards compliance
administrability deployability learnability reliability survivability
affordability discoverability maintainability repeatability sustainability
agility distributability manageability reproducibility tailorability
auditability durability mobility resilience testability
autonomy effectiveness modifiability responsiveness timeliness
availability efficiency modularity reusability traceability
compatibility evolvability operability robustness transparency
composability extensibility orthogonality safety ubiquity
configurability failure transparency portability scalability understandability
correctness fault-tolerance precision seamlessness upgradability
credibility fidelity predictability self-sustainability vulnerability
customizability flexibility process capabilities serviceability usability
debugability inspectability
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Availability & reliability

simplest formula: A = Uptime/(Uptime + Downtime)

MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure)

Failure Rate t<<

Reliability
MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) t>>

Total System Reliability

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Example-1
EXAMPLE: You have a component. It has broken 1 time in a year, it was out-of-
service for 10 days. What is the availability and reliability of this system?

SIMPLE SOLUTION:
Uptime = 355 days, Downtime = 10 days
A = Uptime / (Uptime + Downtime) = 355 / 365 = 97,3 → 97,3 % available

DETAILED SOLUTION:
MTBF = Total Uptime / Number of Failures = 355/1 = 355
MTTR = Total Downtime / Number of Failures = 10/1 = 10
A = MTBF / (MTBF + MTTR) = 355 / 365 = 97,3 % available

Lambda = 1 / MTBF = 1 / 355 = 0,0028 = 0,28 %

t=365 days (t>>)
R= e exp (-Lambda*t) = e exp (-0,0028*365) = e exp (-1,022) = 0.36 = 36 % reliable
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Example-2
EXAMPLE-2: You have a component. It was broken 3 times in 600 days. First time it
was out of service for 10 days, 200 days later it was broken for 5 days and 370 days
later for 15 days. What are availability and reliability values of this system?

SOLUTION:
Simplest : A = UT / (UT+DT) = 570 / 600 = 95 %
TTR = 10, 5 , 15
MTTR = TDt / NoF = (10+5+15) / 3 = 30 / 3 = 10
TTF = 200, 370
MTBF = TUt / NoF = (600-10-5-15) / 3 = 570 / 3 = 190
Availability A = MTBF / (MTBF+MTTR) = 190 / 200 = 95 %
Failure rate: L = 1/MTBF = 1/190 = 0,0053 = 0,53 %
Reliability R = e exp (-L*t) = e exp (-0,0053*600) = 0.042 = 4.2 reliable % (600th day)

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Quality attribute scenarios

the results
produced by
stimulus

a condition the activity

that needs to undertaken
be after the
considered the arrival of the
when it conditions stimulus
entity that generated result of the
arrives at a stimulus
the stimulus response in which
system occurs
(a human, a computer the requirement
system, etc) can be tested 70
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Availability
Availability is concerned with system failure and its associated consequences.

An unanticipated external message is received by a process during normal operation. The process
informs the operator of the receipt of the message and continues to operate with no downtime.
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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Modifiability
Modifiability is about the cost of change.

A developer wishes to change the user interface to make a screen's background color blue. This
change will be made to the code at design time. It will take less than three hours to make and test
the change and no side effect changes will occur in the behavior. 72
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Performance
Performance is about timing. Events occur and the system must respond to them.

Users initiate 1,000 transactions per minute stochastically under normal operations, and these
transactions are processed with an average latency of two seconds. 73
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Security
Security is a measure of the system's ability to resist unauthorized usage while
still providing its services to legitimate users.

A correctly identified individual tries to modify system data from an external site; system
maintains an audit trail and the correct data is restored within one day. 74
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Testability
Testability refers to the probability that it will fail on its next test execution.

A unit tester performs a unit test on a completed system component that provides an interface for
controlling its behavior and observing its output; 85% path coverage is achieved within three
hours. 75
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Usability
Usability is concerned with how easy it is for the user to accomplish a desired task
and the kind of user support the system provides.

A user, wanting to minimize the impact of an error, wishes to cancel a system operation at
runtime; cancellation takes place in less than one second. 76
 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Note that:
There are tens of different system quality attributes.
Availability, modifiability, performance, security,
testability and usability are important.
Quality attribute scenarios including source, stimulus,
artifact, environment, response and response measure
give the basic use of related attribute.

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 Introduction, Systems Engineering

Summary

✓ We have seen some sample systems like defense systems,

space systems, smart cities, IoT etc.
✓ We discussed systems engineering definitions and concepts.
✓ Socio-technical systems are compared with normal technical
systems.
✓ Systems engineering process is discussed with some
samples and a specific process called SIMILAR.
✓ Product life cycle models are given.
✓ System quality attributes, focused on availability and
reliability, are given together with quality attribute scenarios.

Systems Engineering Course, Lecture-2: Introduction, Orkun Zorba, Ph.D., 2021 78