Systems of Systems Architecting and Integration; Visualizing Dynamic Behavior and Qualities

A major responsibility of architecting and integration is ensuring that desired dynamic behavior and desired qualities emerge from the interaction of components within the systems, between systems, and between the users and environment of the systems. A challenge is that organizational attention tends to be on the parts structure, which is determining organization, logistics, manufacturing, and servicing. At the same time, many developers lack the competence to capture dynamic behavior and the way qualities emerge. This paper explores the role of Systems of Systems (SoS) architecting in relation to the impact on integration and looks at alternative ways to visualize dynamic behavior. Three different Systems of Systems, both Directed and Acknowledged SoS, are studied. The visualizations in this paper aid in conceptualizing the system of interest to a larger stakeholder community. Visualizing dynamic behavior allows us to think and reason about potential changes and improvements of Systems of Systems. We encourage use of visualizing dynamic behavior from early conceptual phase and recommend that the developed visualizations are maintained and in active use throughout the SoS life cycle.