Embracing reusable systems architecture

Abstract

The evolution of systems integration has reduced proprietary interfaces significantly. Aging federated systems contain proprietary interfaces which minimize upgrade flexibility. As product lines evolve their value increase can be attributed to the progress from interface standards to open systems architecture. Systems integration evolution for aircraft design is perpetuated by technology development. The ability to harness that progress could be reusable systems architecture (RSA) which is derived from libraries of systems functional definitions. RSA is an evolutionary concept because it captures the existing systems definitions and addresses the gap of integrating the state of the art emergent technologies in an efficient manner. Library concept uniqueness is attained through the system attributes. The research will identify the required systems attributes (e.g. communication protocols, bonding & grounding requirements, power requirements, etc...) necessary in the functional library to efficiently incorporate state of the art systems. This paper illustrates a high level example of how such a library concept could be constructed. Utilization of prior systems functional definitions leverages new combinations of systems with reduced integration cost, less risk, and improved first time quality.