Model-Based Systems Engineering Approach to Design a Human Settlement to Better Serve Displaced People

The challenge of transitioning from temporary humanitarian settlements to more sustainable human settlements is due to a significant increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over recent decades, difficulties in providing social services that meet the required standards, and the prolongation of emergencies. Despite this challenging context, short-term considerations continue to guide their planning and management rather than more integrated, longer-term perspectives, thus preventing viable, sustainable development. Over the years, the design of humanitarian settlements has not been adapted to local contexts and perspectives, nor to the dynamics of urbanization and population growth and data. In addition, the current approach to temporary settlement harms the environment and can strain limited resources. Inefficient land use and ad hoc development models have compounded difficulties and generated new challenges. As a result, living conditions in settlements have deteriorated over the last few decades and continue to pose new challenges. The stakes are such that major shortcomings have emerged along the way, leading to disruption, budget overruns in a context marked by a steady decline in funding. However, some attempts have been made to shift towards more sustainable approaches, but these have mainly focused on vague, sector-oriented themes, failing to consider systematic and integration views. This study is a contribution in addressing these shortcomings by designing a model-driving solution, emphasizing an integrated system conceptualized as a system of systems. This paper proposes a new methodology for designing an integrated and sustainable human settlement model, based on Model-Based Systems Engineering and a Systems Modeling Language to provide valuable insights toward sustainable solutions for displaced populations aligning with the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

NDT-Suite: A Methodological Tool Solution in the Model-Driven Engineering Paradigm

Although the Model-Driven paradigm is being accepted in the research environment as a very useful and powerful option for effective software development, its real application in the enterprise context is still a challenge for software engineering. Several causes can be stacked out, but one of them can be the lack of tool support for the efficient application of this paradigm. This paper presents a set of tools, grouped in a suite named NDT-Suite, which under the Model-Driven paradigm offer a suitable solution for software development. These tools explore different options that this paradigm can improve such as, development, quality assurance or requirement treatment. Besides, this paper analyses how they are being successfully applied in the industry.

The Application of Model-Based Systems Engineering to Rural Healthcare System Disaster Planning:A Scoping Review

Disasters and other emergency events have complex effects on human systems,particularly if the events are severe or prolonged.When these types of events happen in rural communities,the resources of the local public health,healthcare,and emergency response organizations can be quickly depleted or overwhelmed.Planning for emergencies can help to mitigate their impact.Model-based systems engineering(MBSE)methods,including computer simulations,can provide insight on how best to prepare for these events and to explore the effects of varying approaches and resource utilization.To best apply these methods for improving disaster management in rural settings,a synthesis of the current body of evidence in this field is needed.The objective of this scoping review was to provide a descriptive overview of the application of computer simulation based on MBSE approaches to disaster preparedness and response for rural healthcare systems.Six studies met inclusion criteria,and varied in terms of MBSE method used,healthcare setting,and disaster type and context considered.We identified a gap in the research regarding the application of MBSE approaches to support rural healthcare disaster preparedness planning efforts.Model-based systems engineering and systems thinking,therefore,represent novel methods for developing tools and computational simulations that could assist rural communities better prepare for disasters.

基于DoDAF的低慢小飞行器综合处置体系架构设计

针对低慢小飞行器在综合处置中威胁环境复杂、多学科关键技术交互密切等现状,引入美国国防部体系架构框架(Department of Defense Architecture Framework,DoDAF)对低慢小飞行器综合处置体系进行顶层设计。对其视角视图进行“补充、裁剪、融合”,定义了各视角的建模顺序及各视角下视图的建模方法,形成一套面向各类复杂体系分析与设计问题完备的构建方法及一套体系架构快速设计方法。并以一种新型多元载荷协同作战的低慢小飞行器综合处置体系进行建模与仿真,验证了该方法能为低慢小飞行器的综合处置作战提供系统全面的描述和可靠的概念模型支撑、该模型可为作战体系架构设计与装备技术发展提供牵引。

A Systems Approach to Assessing Sustainability Capacity in Kalobeyei Refugee Settlement in Turkana County, Kenya

Refugee settlements face several challenges in transitioning from a temporary planning approach to more sustainable settlements. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over the last few decades, and the difficulties of sustainably providing social services that meet the required standards. The development of refugee settlements assumed that forcibly displaced people would return to their places or countries of origin. Unfortunately, displacement situations are prolonged indefinitely, forcing these people to spend most of their lives in conditions that are often deplorable and substandard, and therefore unsustainable. In most cases, the establishment of refugee settlements is triggered by an emergency caused by an influx of forcibly displaced people, who need to be accommodated urgently and provided with some form of international assistance and protection. This leaves little or no time for proper planning for long-term development as required. In addition, the current approach to temporary settlement harms the environment and can strain limited resources with ad hoc development models that have exacerbated difficulties. As a result, living conditions in refugee settlements have deteriorated over the last few decades and continue to pose challenges as to how best to design, plan, and sustain settlements over time. To contribute to addressing these challenges, this study proposes a new methodology supported by Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and a Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to develop a typical sustainable human settlement system model, which has functionally and operationally executed using a Systems Engineering (SE) approach. To assess the sustainability capacity of the proposed system, this work applies a matrix of crossed impact multiplication through a case study by conducting a system capacity interdependence analysis (SCIA) using the MICMAC methodology (Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) to assess the interdependency that exist between the sub-systems categories to deliver services at the system level. The sustainability analysis results based on capacity variables influence and dependency models shows that development activities in the settlement are unstable and, therefore, unsustainable since there is no apparent difference between the influential and dependent data used for the assessment. These results illustrate that an integrated system could improve human settlements’ sustainability and that capacity building in service delivery is beneficial and necessary.

A Triple Nexus Water-Energy-Housing (WEH) Framework Modelling towards Improved Decision-Making in Humanitarian Operations

Given the challenges facing most humanitarian operations worldwide, a change of approach is needed to ensure greater sustainability of humanitarian settlements right from the planning stage. Some studies attribute unsustainability to inadequate provision of basic resources and highlight the apparent bottlenecks that prevent access to the meaningful data needed to plan and remedy problems. Most operations have relied on an “ad hoc ism” approach, employing parallel and disconnected data processing methods, resulting in a wide range of data being collected without subsequent prioritization to optimize interconnections that could enhance performance. There have been little efforts to study the trade-offs potentially at stake. This work proposes a new framework enabling all subsystems to operate in a single system and focusing on data processing perspective. To achieve this, this paper proposes a Triple Nexus Framework as an attempt to integrate water, energy, and housing sector data derived from a specific sub-system within the overall system in the application of Model-Based Systems Engineering. Understanding the synergies between water, energy, and housing, Systems Engineering characterizes the triple nexus framework and identifies opportunities for improved decision-making in processing operational data from these sectors. Two scenarios illustrate how an integrated platform could be a gateway to access meaningful operational data in the system and a starting point for modeling integrated human settlement systems. Upon execution, the model is tested for nexus megadata processing, and the optimization simulation yielded 67% satisfactory results, demonstrating that an integrated system could improve sustainability, and that capacity building in service delivery is more than beneficial.

A Perspective on Smart Process Manufacturing Research Challenges forProcess Systems Engineers

The challenges posed by smart manufacturing for the process industries and for process systems engineering（PSE） researchers are discussed in this article. Much progress has been made in achieving plant- and site-wide optimization, hut benchmarking would give greater confidence. Technical challenges confrontingprocess systems engineers in developing enabling tools and techniques are discussed regarding flexibilityand uncertainty, responsiveness and agility, robustness and security, the prediction of mixture propertiesand function, and new modeling and mathematics paradigms. Exploiting intelligence from big data to driveagility will require tackling new challenges, such as how to ensure the consistency and confidentiality ofdata through long and complex supply chains. Modeling challenges also exist, and involve ensuring that allkey aspects are properly modeled, particularly where health, safety, and environmental concerns requireaccurate predictions of small but critical amounts at specific locations. Environmental concerns will requireus to keep a closer track on all molecular species so that they are optimally used to create sustainablesolutions. Disruptive business models may result, particularly from new personalized products, but that isdifficult to predict.

Current status and prospects of reliability systems engineering in China

This study provides a systematic overview of the advent and evolution of reliability systems engineering(RSE)in China,and the latest RSE development,that is,model-based RSE(MBRSE),is emphatically introduced.The establishment of the system architecture and conceptual models of MBRSE is first described.The fundamental theory and methodology of MBRSE are then elaborated,with a V-model as the core of this approach.The development of various MBRSE platforms and the effectiveness of their implementation over the past 30 years are presented.The prospective trends in the development of RSE in China are outlined.

Model-Based Embedded Compiled Software Fault Positioning

Software fault positioning is one of the most effective activities in program debugging. In this paper, we propose a model-based fault positioning method to detect the faults of embedded program without source code. The system takes the machine code of embedded software as input and translates the code into high-level language C with the software reverse engineering program. Then, the static analysis on the high-level program is taken to obtain a control flow graph（CFG）, which is denoted as a node-tree and each node is a basic block. According to the faults found by the field testing, we construct a fault model by extracting the features of the faulty code obtained by ranking the Ochiai coefficient of basic blocks. The model can be effectively used to locate the faults of the embedded program. Our method is evaluated on ST chips of the smart meter with the corresponding source code. The experiment shows that the proposed method has an effectiveness about 87% on the fault detection.

Mapping AADL to Petri Net Tool-Sets Using PNML Framework

Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) has been utilized to specify and verify nonfunctional properties of Real-Time Embedded Systems (RTES) used in critical application systems. Examples of such critical application systems include medical devices, nuclear power plants, aerospace, financial, etc. Using AADL, an engineer is enable to analyze the quality of a system. For example, a developer can perform performance analysis such as end-to-end flow analysis to guarantee that system components have the required resources to meet the timing requirements relevant to their communications. The critical issue related to developing and deploying safety critical systems is how to validate the expected level of quality (e.g., safety, performance, security) and functionalities (capabilities) at design level. Currently, the core AADL is extensively applied to analyze and verify quality of RTES embed in the safety critical applications. The notation lacks the formal semantics needed to reason about the logical properties (e.g., deadlock, livelock, etc.) and capabilities of safety critical systems. The objective of this research is to augment AADL with exiting formal semantics and supporting tools in a manner that these properties can be automatically verified. Toward this goal, we exploit Petri Net Markup Language (PNML), which is a standard acting as the intermediate language between different classes of Petri Nets. Using PNML, we interface AADL with different classes of Petri nets, which support different types of tools and reasoning. The justification for using PNML is that the framework provides a context in which interoperability and exchangeability among different models of a system specified by different types of Petri nets is possible. The contributions of our work include a set of mappings and mapping rules between AADL and PNML. To show the feasibility of our approach, a fragment of RT-Embedded system, namely, Cruise Control System has been used.

An Exploration on Logical Ideas of System Architecture Modeling

China’s space technology has gradually improved from the early stages’ introduction, absorption and re-innovation based on backward design to independent innovation based on forward design. It is necessary to develop a new approach of systems engineering to improve the quality and efficiency of space systems design considering the large number of original design problems expected in the future. Adopting Model-Based Systems Engineering(MBSE) and Digital Twin method are important development initiatives in the field of modern engineering design. In the initial phase of system design, it is necessary to generate firm system architecture models based on the needs of stakeholders. The quality of the system design in this phase has a great impact on the detailed design and implementation for the subsequent system, and also plays an important role in the performance, development progress and cost of the whole system. Through the collaboration of cross-professional teams, modeling and model execution, comparing the model execution with expected results, MBSE has enabled digital model-level verification and validation before test verification and validation based on physical products, thus improving the design exactness, completeness and greatly reducing design errors or defects. This paper explores the logical ideas behind modeling of system architectures in order to promote the adoption of MBSE in the field of space systems.

A formal approach using SysML for capturing functional requirements in avionics domain

In this work,a Model-Based Systems Engineering approach based on Sys ML is proposed.This approach is used for the capture and the definition of functional requirements in avionics domain.The motivation of this work is triple:guide the capture of functional requirements,validate these functional requirements through functional simulation,and verify efficiently the consistency of these functional requirements.The proposed approach is decomposed into several steps that are detailed to go from conceptual model of avionics domain to a formal functional model that can be simulated in its operating context.To achieve this work,a subset of Sys ML has been used as an intermediate modelling language to ensure progressive transformation that can be understood and agreed by system stakeholders.Formal concepts are introduced to ensure theoretical consistency of the approach.In addition,transformation rules are defined and the mappings between concepts of ARP4754 A civil aircraft guidelines and Sys ML are formalized through meta-model.The resulting formalization enables engineers to perform functional simulation of the top-level functional architecture extracted from operational scenarios.Finally,the approach has been tested on an industrial avionics system called the Onboard Maintenance System.

Challenges and solutions in automotive powertrain systems

Automotive powertrain mainly consisting of combustion engine,motor and battery(i.e.special for hybrid powertrain)is a very complicated integration system,and the research on the automotive powertrain control techniques remains hot-spot in past decades.This paper proposes some challenging issues and control solutions of automotive powertrain system from the perspective of the dynamic system theory.The typical characteristics of automotive powertrain system are analysed for control development,and the several control applications using model-based and model-free control design are demonstrated with sufficient experimental validation.In addition,some open issues for future powertrain control development are summarised.

Generating native user interfaces for multiple devices by means of model transformation

In the last years, the types of devices used to access information systems have notably increased using different operating systems, screen sizes, interaction mechanisms, and software features. This device fragmentation is an important issue to tackle when developing native mobile service front-end applications. To address this issue,we propose the generation of native user interfaces(UIs) by means of model transformations, following the modelbased user interface(MBUI) paradigm. The resulting MBUI framework, called LIZARD, generates applications for multiple target platforms. LIZARD allows the definition of applications at a high level of abstraction, and applies model transformations to generate the target native UI considering the specific features of target platforms. The generated applications follow the UI design guidelines and the architectural and design patterns specified by the corresponding operating system manufacturer. The objective is not to generate generic applications following the lowest-common-denominator approach, but to follow the particular guidelines specified for each target device. We present an example application modeled in LIZARD, generating different UIs for Windows Phone and two types of Android devices(smartphones and tablets).

DEVS and MBSE:A review

We review Discrete-Event system Specification(DEVS)in the context of Model-based Systems Engineering(MBSE)and discuss an application of DEVS methodology to MBSE.We outline support for an envisioned MBSE development cycle of DEVS top-to-bottom MBSE capability and offer an example of mapping UML activity diagrams into executable activity-based DEVS models.We close with conclusions and future research directions.

Enabling data-driven anomaly detection by design in cyber-physical production systems

Designing and developing distributed cyber-physical production systems(CPPS)is a time-consuming,complex,and error-prone process.These systems are typically heterogeneous,i.e.,they consist of multiple components implemented with different languages and development tools.One of the main problems nowadays in CPPS implementation is enabling security mechanisms by design while reducing the complexity and increasing the system’s maintainability.Adopting the IEC 61499 standard is an excellent approach to tackle these challenges by enabling the design,deployment,and management of CPPS in a model-based engineering methodology.We propose a method for CPPS design based on the IEC 61499 standard.The method allows designers to embed a bio-inspired anomaly-based host intrusion detection system(A-HIDS)in Edge devices.This A-HIDS is based on the incremental Dendritic Cell Algorithm(iDCA)and can analyze OPC UA network data exchanged between the Edge devices and detect attacks that target the CPPS’Edge layer.This study’s findings have practical implications on the industrial security community by making novel contributions to the intrusion detection problem in CPPS considering immune-inspired solutions,and cost-effective security by design system implementation.According to the experimental data,the proposed solution can dramatically reduce design and code complexity while improving application maintainability and successfully detecting network attacks without negatively impacting the performance of the CPPS Edge devices.