On the Concepts of Capability and Constituent System Independence in Systems-of-Systems

• Systems-of-systems are designed to provide a capability that their constituent systems cannot achieve individually. A key property is that the constituent systems have some degree of operational and managerial independence. The concepts of capability and independence are thus central to the field of systems-of-systems. Yet the contemporary literature and standards only give vague definitions of these terms. This vagueness is a barrier to progress in the field, and this paper aims at contributing with a more detailed conceptualization. It describes a system capability as a state-transforming process that uses certain resources. Independence means that the system has a choice about when and how its capabilities should be activated. This requires that the system is an intelligent agent with a notion of utility, a perception of the world around it, and a decision-making capability. When given a mission, the system can complete that mission by activating appropriate combinations of capabilities. A system-of-systems can decompose its mission into parts that correspond to the capabilities of various constituent systems.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

capability

constellation

independence

mission

system-of-systems

Decision making

Intelligent agents

Decisions makings

Property

System capabilities

System of systems

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)