Systems Engineering Demystified

Systems Engineering Demystified

by Jon Holt
Released January 2021
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781838985806

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Book description

Get to grips with systems engineering life cycles, processes, and best practices and discover techniques to successfully develop complex systems

Key Features

  • Discover how to manage increased complexity and understand systems better via effective communication
  • Adopt a proven model-based approach for systems engineering in your organization
  • Apply proven techniques for requirements, design, validation and verification, and systems engineering management

Book Description

Systems engineering helps us to understand, specify, and develop complex systems, and is applied across a wide set of disciplines. As systems and their associated problems become increasingly complex in this evermore connected world, the need for more rigorous, demonstrable, and repeatable techniques also increases.

Written by Professor Jon Holt – an internationally recognized systems engineering expert – this book provides a blend of technical and business aspects you need to understand in order to develop successful systems. You'll start with systems engineering basics and understand the complexity, communication, and different stakeholders' views of the system. The book then covers essential aspects of model-based systems engineering, systems, life cycles, and processes, along with techniques to develop systems. Moving on, you'll explore system models and visualization techniques, focusing on the SysML, and discover how solutions can be defined by developing effective system design, verification, and validation techniques. The book concludes by taking you through key management processes and systems engineering best practices and guidelines.

By the end of this systems engineering book, you'll be able to confidently apply modern model-based systems engineering techniques to your own systems and projects.

What you will learn

  • Understand the three evils of systems engineering - complexity, ambiguous communication, and lack of understanding
  • Realize successful systems using model-based systems engineering
  • Understand the concept of life cycles and how they control the evolution of a system
  • Explore processes and related concepts such as activities, stakeholders, and resources
  • Discover how needs fit into the systems life cycle and which processes are relevant and how to comply with them
  • Find out how design, verification, and validation fit into the life cycle and processes

Who this book is for

This book is for aspiring systems engineers, engineering managers, or anyone looking to apply systems engineering practices to their systems and projects. While a well-structured, model-based approach to systems engineering is an essential skill for engineers of all disciplines, many companies are finding that new graduates have little understanding of systems engineering. This book helps you acquire this skill with the help of a simple and practical approach to developing successful systems. No prior knowledge of systems engineering or modeling is required to get started with this book.

Table of contents

  1. Systems Engineering Demystified
  2. Why subscribe?
  3. Contributors
  4. About the author
  5. About the reviewers
  6. Packt is searching for authors like you
  7. Preface
    1. Who this book is for
    2. What this book covers
    3. To get the most out of this book
    4. Download the color images
    5. Get in touch
    6. Reviews
  8. Section 1: Introduction to Systems Engineering
  9. Chapter 1: Introduction to Systems Engineering
    1. A brief history of systems engineering
    2. Defining systems engineering
      1. Defining a system
      2. Characteristics of a system
      3. Defining systems engineering
    3. The need for systems engineering
      1. Complexity
      2. The complexity of constraints
      3. Communication
      4. Understanding
      5. The implementation of systems engineering
    4. Summary
    5. Questions
    6. References
  10. Chapter 2: Model-Based Systems Engineering
    1. An introduction to MBSE
      1. Abstracting the system
      2. Visualizing the model
      3. Defining the approach
      4. Grouping the MBSE concepts
      5. Implementing the notation
      6. Showing compliance
      7. Using MBSE
    2. The evolution of MBSE
      1. Stage 1 – document-based systems engineering
      2. Stage 2 – document-centric systems engineering
      3. Stage 3 – model-enhanced systems engineering
      4. Stage 4 – model-centric systems engineering
      5. Stage 5 – MBSE
      6. Cross-cutting concerns
    3. Modeling with MBSE
      1. The need for modeling
      2. Defining the model
      3. Two aspects of the model
      4. When and where to model
    4. The spoken language – the Systems Modeling Language (SysML)
      1. What SysML is (and what it is not)
      2. The SysML diagrams
      3. Example structural modeling
      4. Example behavioral modeling
    5. The domain-specific language – the ontology
      1. Understanding the ontology – the cornerstone of MBSE
      2. Visualizing the ontology
    6. Summary
    7. Self-assessment tasks
    8. References
  11. Section 2: Systems Engineering Concepts
  12. Chapter 3: Systems and Interfaces
    1. Defining systems
      1. Demonstrating consistency between the ontology and system hierarchy
      2. Defining the system hierarchy
      3. Defining interaction relationships
    2. Describing interfaces
      1. Identifying interfaces
      2. Defining interfaces
      3. Modeling interfaces
      4. Modeling behavioral views for interfaces
    3. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the framework context view
      3. Defining the ontology definition view
      4. Defining the viewpoint relationship view
      5. Defining the viewpoint context view
      6. Defining the viewpoint definition view
      7. Defining the ruleset definition view
    4. Summary
    5. Self-assessment tasks
    6. References
  13. Chapter 4: Life Cycles
    1. Defining life cycles
      1. Defining life cycle concepts
    2. Defining life cycle models
      1. Defining a linear life cycle model
      2. Defining an iterative life cycle model
      3. Defining an incremental life cycle model
      4. Interacting life cycles and life cycle models
      5. Identifying interactions between life cycles
      6. Defining the behavior of interactions
    3. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the framework context view
      3. Defining the ontology definition view
      4. Defining the viewpoint relationship view
      5. Defining the viewpoint context view
      6. Defining the viewpoint definition view
      7. Defining the ruleset definition view
    4. Summary
    5. Self-assessment tasks
    6. References
  14. Chapter 5: Systems Engineering Processes
    1. Understanding process fundamentals
      1. Defining process properties
      2. Defining process types
    2. Process concepts
    3. Process modeling
      1. Defining the process context
      2. Defining the process library
      3. Defining the process stakeholders
      4. Defining the process artifacts
      5. Defining the process behavior
      6. Defining a sequence of processes
    4. Modeling standards using process modeling
      1. Identifying systems engineering standards
      2. Modeling ISO 15288
      3. Demonstrating compliance with ISO 15288
    5. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the framework context view
      3. Defining the ontology definition view
      4. Defining the viewpoint relationship view
      5. Defining the viewpoint context view
      6. Defining the viewpoint definition view
      7. Defining the ruleset definition view
    6. Summary
    7. Self-assessment tasks
    8. References
  15. Section 3: Systems Engineering Techniques
  16. Chapter 6: Needs and Requirements
    1. Introducing needs and requirements
      1. Defining needs
    2. Visualizing needs using different SysML diagrams
      1. Visualizing source elements
      2. Visualizing need descriptions
      3. Visualizing the context definition
      4. Visualizing contexts
      5. Visualizing scenarios
    3. Life cycle and processes
    4. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the Framework Context View
      3. Defining the Ontology Definition View
      4. Defining the Viewpoint Relationship View
      5. Defining the Viewpoint Context View
      6. Defining the Viewpoint Definition View
      7. Defining the Ruleset Definition View
    5. Summary
    6. Self-assessment tasks
    7. References
  17. Chapter 7: Modeling the Design
    1. Defining designs
      1. Architectural design
      2. Detailed design
      3. Defining logical model elements
      4. Defining functional model elements
      5. Defining physical elements
      6. Defining system behavior
    2. Complying with best-practice processes
      1. Complying with the ISO 15288 architecture definition process
      2. Complying with the ISO 15288 design definition process
    3. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the framework context view
      3. Defining the ontology definition view
      4. Defining the viewpoint relationship view
      5. Defining the viewpoint context view
      6. Defining the viewpoint definition view
      7. Defining the ruleset definition view
    4. Summary
    5. Self-assessment tasks
    6. References
  18. Chapter 8: Verification and Validation
    1. Defining testing concepts
    2. Modeling verification and validation
      1. Modeling the testing context
      2. Modeling the testing setup
      3. Modeling the testing configuration
      4. Using existing views for testing
    3. Complying with best-practice processes
      1. Complying with the ISO 15288 Verification Process
      2. Complying with the ISO 15288 Validation Process
    4. Defining the framework
      1. Defining the viewpoints in the framework
      2. Defining the framework context view
      3. Defining the ontology definition view
      4. Defining the viewpoint relationship view
      5. Defining the viewpoint context view
      6. Defining the viewpoint definition view
      7. Defining the Ruleset Definition View
    5. Summary
    6. Self-assessment tasks
    7. References
  19. Chapter 9: Methodologies
    1. Introducing methodologies
    2. Introducing SAFe
      1. Defining the SAFe concepts
      2. Defining the SAFe core concepts
      3. Deploying SAFe
      4. Summarizing the SAFe method
    3. Introducing OOSEM
      1. Defining OOSEM concepts
      2. Defining the OOSEM approach
      3. Summarizing the OOSEM method
    4. Methodologies and MBSE
      1. Methodologies and approach
      2. Methodologies and goals
      3. Methodologies and visualization
      4. Methodologies and implementation
      5. Methodologies and compliance
    5. Summary
    6. Self-assessment tasks
    7. References
  20. Chapter 10: Systems Engineering Management
    1. Introducing management
    2. The project planning process
      1. Applying modeling to the activate the project activity
      2. Applying modeling to the define the project activity
      3. Applying modeling to the plan project and technical management activity
      4. Summary of the project planning process
    3. The decision management process
      1. Applying modeling to the prepare for decisions activity
      2. Applying modeling to the analyze the decision information activity
      3. Applying modeling to the make and manage decisions activity
      4. Summary of the decision management process
    4. The project assessment and control process
      1. Applying modeling to the plan for project assessment and control activity
      2. Applying modeling to the assess the project activity
      3. Applying modeling to the control the project activity
      4. Summary of the project assessment and control process
    5. The risk management process
      1. Applying modeling to the plan risk management activity
      2. Applying modeling to the analyze risks activity
      3. Applying modeling to the manage the risk profile activity
      4. Applying modeling to the monitor risks activity
      5. Applying modeling to the treat risks activity
      6. Summary of the risk management process
    6. The information management process
      1. Applying modeling to the prepare for information management activity
      2. Applying modeling to the perform information management activity
      3. Summary of the information management process
    7. The configuration management process
      1. Applying modeling to the plan configuration management activity
      2. Applying modeling to the perform configuration identification activity
      3. Applying modeling to the perform configuration change management activity
      4. Applying modeling to the perform configuration status accounting activity
      5. Applying modeling to the perform configuration evaluation activity
      6. Applying modeling to the perform release control activity
      7. Summary of the configuration management process
    8. The measurement process
      1. Applying modeling to the prepare for measurement activity
      2. Applying modeling to the perform measurement activity
      3. Summary of the measurement process
    9. The quality assurance process
      1. Applying modeling to the prepare for quality assurance activity
      2. Applying modeling to the perform product or service evaluations activity
      3. Applying modeling to the perform process evaluations activity
      4. Applying modeling to the treat incidents and problems activity
      5. Applying modeling to the manage quality assurance records and reports activity
      6. Summary of the quality assurance process
    10. Summary
    11. Self-assessment tasks
  21. Section 4: Next steps
  22. Chapter 11: Best Practices
    1. Introducing key standards
      1. ISO 15288 – Systems and software engineering life cycle processes
      2. Other standards
    2. Introducing key guidelines
      1. The INCOSE Competency Framework
      2. Other guidelines
    3. Organizations
    4. Summary
  23. Other Books You May Enjoy
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Product information

  • Title: Systems Engineering Demystified
  • Author(s): Jon Holt
  • Release date: January 2021
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781838985806