Model-based Systems Engineering Papers Analysis based on Word Cloud Visualization

With the continuous improvement of system scale and complexity, model-based system engineering (MBSE) is of great importance in the practice of system engineering (SE). MBSE has been widely concerned in industry, especially in the field of complex equipment. At the same time, in academia, research articles about MBSE come into being and grow rapidly. In this paper, keywords and full-texts of 143 high quality articles related to MBSE field are extracted from relevant journals of IEEE and INCOSE communities, and the research contents of MBSE field are visualized and analyzed by using a thirdparty Python WordCloud library. The research focuses on: (a) identifying related concepts of MBSE; (b) exploring research contents of MBSE; (c) analyzing three pillars of MBSE: modeling languages, methods and tools based on articles. The results show that MBSE plays an important role in realizing system architecture design and developing system architecture models by applying modeling technology to support system requirements, design, analysis and evaluation, verification and validation in the whole life cycle of product development. SysML and OPM are the most popular modeling languages and modeling methods in MBSE research field respectively. This paper provides a technical route reference for exploring the current research field of MBSE by using WordCloud text analysis which is helpful to predict the future research of MBSE.

Bibliometric Analysis of Model-Based Systems Engineering: Past, Current, and Future

Jinzhi Lu, Yan Yan

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is considered an important approach for understanding multidomain fields and is widely used in complex systems such as aerospace. In this article, a detailed survey of MBSE literature was conducted from its commencement to the present trends through bibliometric analysis. Some bibliometric tools were used to implement a visual network analysis of MBSE-related manuscripts. The results of the bibliometric study revealed the interrelationship and distribution of researchers in multidomain fields. The authorized sources of MBSE papers were also assorted. The current practices of MBSE were analyzed. The future directions for MBSE based on the current practices were discussed. We found that MBSE's research has been conducted by many research teams with distinctive characteristics, and the top publishing sources in this field have emerged. Research on MBSE focuses on system engineering, languages, system of systems, and digitalization. The development of new technologies such as next-generation modeling languages is improving current practical problems. The findings of this study may help researchers gain a faster and more comprehensive understanding of the current and future developments in MBSE.

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2022

Virtual Prototyping Methodology for Power Automation Cyber-Physical-Systems

Juan Sebastian Rodriguez Estupinan

In this thesis, the author proposes a circular system development model which considers all the stages in a typical development process for industrial systems. In particular, the present work shows that the use of virtual prototyping at early stages of the system development may reduce the overall design and verification effort by allowing the exploration of the complete system architecture, and uncovering integration issues early on. The modeling techniques of this research are based on VHDL-AMS, yet supporting other modeling languages such as C/C++, SPICE, and Verilog-AMS, together with integrated simulation tools. Contrasting with conventional approaches, it is shown that the proposed methodology is adapted for small-scale Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) design and verification thanks to the modularity and scalability of the modeling approach. The proposed modeling techniques enable seamlessly the CPS design together with the implementation of their subsystems. In particular, the contribution of this work improves the virtual prototyping approach that has been successfully used during the development of smart electrical sensors and monitoring equipment for high and medium voltage applications. The design of the measurement and self-calibration circuits of a medium voltage current sensor based on the Rogowski coil transducer is presented as an example. The proposed small-scale CPS design methodology based on virtual prototyping, namely VP-based design methodology, uses important theoretical concepts from layered design, component-based design, and platform-based design. These foundations are the basis to build a modeling methodology that provides a vehicle that can be used to improve system verification towards correct-by-design systems. The main contributions of this research are: the re-definition of the system development lifecycle by using a virtual prototyping methodology; the design and implementation of a model library that maximizes the reuse of computational models and their related IP; and a set of VHDL-AMS modeling guidelines established with the purpose of improving the modularity and scalability of virtual prototypes. These elements are key for supporting the introduction of virtual prototyping into industrial companies that can thoroughly profit from this approach, but cannot commit a specific team to the creation, support, and maintenance of computational models and its dedicated infrastructure. Thanks to the progressive nature of the proposed methodology, virtual prototypes can indeed be introduced with relatively low initial effort and enhanced over time. The presented methodology and its infrastructure may grow into a bidirectional communication medium between non-expert system designers (i.e. system architects and virtual integrators) and domain specialists such as mechanical designers, power electrical designers, embedded-electronics designers, and software designers. The proposed design methodology advocates the reduction of the CPS design complexity by the implementation of a meet-in-the-middle approach for system-level modeling. In this direction, the modeling techniques introduced in this work facilitate the architectural design space exploration, critical cross-domain variable analysis (especially important in the component interfaces), and system-level optimization and verification.

EPFL2017

Uncooperative Rendezvous in Space: Design of an Electronic Architecture for High Performance Avionic with Multi Sensor Input and Intensive Data Rate.

Michaël Yannick Juillard

Active Debris Removal missions consist of sending a satellite in space and removing one or more debris from their current orbit. A key challenge is to obtain information about the uncooperative target. By gathering the velocity, position, and rotation of the desired object, the satellite is able to plan its trajectory and define the sequence of approach. It requires the use of a variety of sensors with often a high data rate. For this task, a dedicated payload computer is envisioned with the responsibility of processing the information from the various rendezvous sensors. This component has the goal to provide meaningful information to the main satellite computer about the targeted debris. The focus of this work is on the data processing, the number of elements, and the electrical energy with constraints due to internal communication.First, an avionic testbench was built at the EPFL Space Center to assess early hardware and software architectures. The goal is to enable Hardware-In-the-Loop testing while developing the payload computer. A communication data bus has been implemented between the Platform and the Payload On-Board Computer. Emphasis was placed on the reliability of the high-level protocol and multiple concepts for improvement were analyzed.In a second phase, the testbench has been extended to support other data buses. The aim was to develop a reliable and efficient backup or fall-back data bus in case of failure in the main link. Four data buses have been tested with extensive analyses on their resilience to error and the efficiency of their data exchange.In parallel, extensive work has been performed to develop a simulation and optimization tool. Its goal is to support the design of payload avionic architectures for ADR missions by providing trade-offs and analyses. In the first iteration, a simulator has been created with instances of various high-level elements modeled.The second iteration introduced the additional dimension of optimization. It is trying to determine the best set of instruments and algorithms to use. With this capability, numerous analyses have been conducted on the influence of various parameters linked to the general optimizer behavior. It allows us to better understand the strength and limitations of the tool.The third step regarding the tool was to start its verification. The task has been to develop an Hardware-In-the-Loop architecture to compare its behavior with the results of the optimizer. The implementation of various mock-up algorithms enables the verification of their models in the tool. These analyses guarantee the feasibility of the outputted solution.The last part was dedicated to the creation and analysis of a realistic payload avionic architecture. The goal was to test the capability of the tool with hardware elements inspired by actual components. This work has shown the procedure to efficiently use the tool in the design phase of a mission.In conclusion, the work on the communication between the Payload and the Platform On-Board Computer has brought valuable lessons and experiences to the projects. They can now be used for the establishment of the high-level protocol into ClearSpace-1 flight software. In addition, the optimizer created allows tackling the design of complex payload avionic architecture where mass saving and processing resources are crucial. It is an essential point to develop a highly efficient payload computer for an Active Debris Removal satellite.