A Framework for Tradespace Exploration of Systems of Systems

Many qualitative descriptions of Systems of Systems (SoS) exist in the literature, but only heuristics and guiding principles have been suggested with regard to SoS design methods. To assist SoS designers in decision making during conceptual design, prescriptive design methods are required for SoS. To develop a SoS design method, we propose to build on an existing system tradespace exploration methodology by adding SoS-specific design considerations. In this paper, three primary differences between SoS and traditional systems are suggested: stakeholder analysis, dynamics of SoS composition, and the presence of legacy and new components. Additions to the Dynamic Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration framework are proposed that will address these differences. The enhanced tradespace exploration method will provide a new approach to SoS tradespace exploration and analysis.