Systems Engineering

Designing, implementing, deploying and operating systems which include hardware, software and people
Objectives

To explain why system software is affected by broader system engineering issues
To introduce the concept of emergent system properties such as reliability and security
To explain why the systems environment must be considered in the system design process

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 1

What is a system?

A purposeful collection of inter-related components working together towards some common objective.
A system may include software, mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware and be operated by people.
System components are dependent on other  system components
The properties and behaviour of system components are inextricably inter-mingled


Systems Engineering

Slide 2

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

What is a system?

A purposeful collection of inter-related components working together towards some common objective.
A system may include software, mechanical, electrical and electronic hardware and be operated by people.
System components are dependent on other  system components
The properties and behaviour of system components are inextricably inter-mingled


Systems Engineering

Slide 3

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Problems of systems engineering

Large systems are usually designed to solve  nasty problems

Systems engineering requires a great deal of  co-ordination across disciplines

Almost innite possibilities for design trade-offs across  components
Mutual distrust and lack of understanding across engineering disciplines

Systems must be designed to last many years in a changing environment

Systems Engineering

Slide 4

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Software and systems engineering

The proportion of software in systems is increasing

Software-driven general purpose electronics is replacing special-purpose systems

Problems of systems engineering are similar to problems of software engineering

Software is (unfortunately) seen as a problem in systems engineering

Many large system projects have been delayed because of software problems

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 5

Emergent properties

Properties of the system as a whole rather than properties that can be derived from the properties of components
Emergent properties are a consequence of the relationships between system components
They can therefore only be assessed and measured once the components have been integrated into a system

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 6

Examples of emergent properties

The overall shape and size of a physical system

This depends on the composition of components.

The reliability of the system

This depends on the reliability of system components and the relationships between the components.

The usability of a system

This is a complex property which is not simply dependent on the system hardware and software but also depends on the system operators and the environment where it is used.

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 7

Types of emergent property

Functional properties

These appear when all the parts of a system work together to achieve some objective
For example, a bicycle has the functional property of being a transportation device once it has been assembled from its components
Examples are reliability, performance, safety, and security
These relate to the behaviour of the system in its operational environment
They are often critical for computer-based systems as failure to achieve some minimal dened level in these properties may make the system unusable.


Systems Engineering

Slide 8

Non-functional emergent properties

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

System reliability

Because of component inter-dependencies, faults can be propagated through the system

System failures often occur because of unforeseen inter-relationships between components

Honey-baked ham

It is probably impossible to anticipate all possible component relationships

Hardware
Software
Operator

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 9

Reliability relationships

Hardware failure can generate spurious signals that are outside the range of inputs expected by the software
Software errors can cause alarms to be activated which cause operator stress and lead to operator errors
The environment in which a system is installed can affect its reliability

E.g., placement of a system intended to operate at room temperature near an air conditioner

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 10

The shall-not properties

Properties such as performance and reliability can be measured

However, some properties are properties that the system should not exhibit

Safety - the system should not behave in an unsafe way
Security - the system should not permit unauthorised use

Measuring or assessing these properties is very hard

How do you know you are safe or secure?

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 11

System architecture modelling

An architectural model presents an abstract view of the sub-systems making up a system

May include major information ows between sub-systems
Usually presented as a block diagram
May identify different types of functional component in the model

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 12

Functional system components

Sensor components
Actuator components
Computation components
Communication components
Co-ordination components
Interface components
All are now usually software controlled

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009
Systems Engineering

Slide 13

Hierarchies of Systems

T own Street Building Heating system Security system Power system Lighting system Water system Waste system

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 14

Intruder alarm system

Movement sensors Door sensors

Alarm contr oller External control centre

Siren

Voice synthesizer

Telephone caller

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 15

Component types in alarm system

Sensor

Movement sensor, Door sensor
Siren
Telephone caller
Alarm controller
Voice synthesizer


Systems Engineering

Slide 16

Actuator

Communication

Coordination

Interface

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Radar system

Transponder system

Da ta comms. system

Aircraft comms.

Telephone system

Position processor

Backup position processor

Comms. processor

Backup comms. processor

Aircraft simulation system

Flight plan database

ATC system
architecture

Weather map system Accounting system Controller info. system Controller consoles

Activity logging system

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 17

Inter-disciplinary involvement

Software engineering Electronic engineering Mechanical engineering

Structural engineering

ATC systems engineering

User interface design

Civil engineering

Electrical engineering

Architecture

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 18

Embedded systems

Computing systems are everywhere

Most of us think of desktop computers

PCs
Laptops
Mainframes
Servers
Far more common...

But theres another type of computing system

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 19

Embedded systems overview

Embedded computing systems

Computers are in here...
Computing systems embedded within electronic devices
and here...
Hard to dene. Nearly any computing system and even here...
other than a desktop computer
Billions of units produced yearly, versus millions of desktop units
Perhaps 50 per household and per automobile

Lots more of these, though they cost a lot less each.

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 20

A short list of embedded systems

Anti-lock brakes
Auto-focus cameras
Automatic teller machines
Automatic toll systems
Automatic transmission
Avionic systems
Battery chargers
Camcorders
Cell phones
Cell-phone base stations
Cordless phones
Cruise control
Curbside check-in systems
Digital cameras
Disk drives
Electronic card readers
Electronic instruments
Electronic toys/games
Factory control
Fax machines
Fingerprint identiers
Home security systems
Life-support systems
Medical testing systems
Modems
MPEG decoders
Network cards
Network switches/routers
On-board navigation
Pagers
Photocopiers
Point-of-sale systems
Portable video games
Printers
Satellite phones
Scanners
Smart ovens/dishwashers
Speech recognizers
Stereo systems
Teleconferencing systems
Televisions
Temperature controllers
Theft tracking systems
TV set-top boxes
VCRs, DVD players
Video game consoles
Video phones
Washers and dryers

And the list goes on and on

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009
Systems Engineering

Slide 21

Some common characteristics of embedded systems

Single-functioned

Executes a single program, repeatedly
Low cost, low power, small, fast, etc.
Continually reacts to changes in the systems environment
Must compute certain results in real-time without delay

Tightly-constrained

Reactive and real-time

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 22

An embedded system example -a digital camera

Digital camera chip
CCD
CCD preprocessor
A2D
lens
JPEG codec
Microcontroller
Multiplier/Accum
Pixel coprocessor
D2A

DMA controller

Display ctrl

Memory controller

ISA bus interface

UART

LCD ctrl

Single-functioned -- always a digital camera

Tightly-constrained -- Low cost, low power, small, fast
Reactive and real-time -- only to a small extent

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 23

Design challenge optimizing design metrics

Obvious design goal:

Construct an implementation with desired functionality
Simultaneously optimize numerous design metrics
A measurable feature of a systems implementation
Optimizing design metrics is a key challenge

Key design challenge:

Design metric

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 24

Design challenge optimizing design metrics

Common metrics

Unit cost: the monetary cost of manufacturing each copy of the
system, excluding NRE cost

NRE cost (Non-Recurring Engineering cost): The one-time

monetary cost of designing the system

Size: the physical space required by the system

Performance: the execution time or throughput of the system
Power: the amount of power consumed by the system
Flexibility: the ability to change the functionality of the system
without incurring heavy NRE cost

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 25

Design challenge optimizing design metrics

Common metrics (continued)

Time-to-prototype: the time needed to build a working version of the
system

Time-to-market: the time required to develop a system to the point

that it can be released and sold to customers

Maintainability: the ability to modify the system after its initial

release

Correctness, safety, many more

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 26

improving one may worsen others

Power

Performance

Size

NRE cost

CCD
lens

Digital camera chip

A2D
JPEG codec
DMA controller
CCD preprocessor
Pixel coprocessor
D2A

Expertise with both software and hardware is needed to optimize design metrics
Not just a hardware or software expert, as is common
A designer must be comfortable with various technologies in order to choose the best for a given application and constraints

Microcontroller

Multiplier/Accum
Display ctrl

Hardware
Software

Memory controller

ISA bus interface

UART

LCD ctrl

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 27

27

Robotic System

Cmara de visin

Mdem Bluetooth

BlueSMiRF (WRL-00582)

(pan-and-tilt)
Video
Proxmetro IR
Unidad inercial

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009
Systems Engineering

Slide 28

Robotic System

Mecanica + Control + Computacion
Ingeniera de reversa (servomecanismos, controlador, programacin)
Mecnicas (cabeza, tobillos), comunicacin inalmbrica, hardware para control,
Sistema de programacin, interfaz bidireccional para los servos
Percepcin
Sensores: Visin, Infrarrojos, Unidad Inercial
Reconstruccin 3D Monocular
SLAM Visual
Odometra visual, Navegacin Inercial (IMU), SLAM Visual, etc.
Obtencin de Modelos y Desarrollo de Simulador
Geomtrico, Cinemtico, Dinmico
Control Cinemtico y Dinmico
Control articular, control cinemtico, control dinmico (ZMP, FRI)
Aplicaciones
Reconocer pelota, Evitar y reconocer obstculos y marcas, Caminar hacia la pelota, conducir la pelota, Penalties (tirar y parar), coordinacion con otros robots, Pruebas RoboCup, Futbolistas.

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009
Systems Engineering

Slide 29

Robotic System Application

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 30

Electric SCADA System

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 31

Web-Based Software System

http://people.csail.mit.edu/hal/mobile-apps-spring-08/videos/are.mpg

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 32

Key points

System engineering involves input from a range of disciplines

Emergent properties are properties that are characteristic of the system as a whole and not its component parts
System architectural models show major sub-systems and inter-connections. They are usually described using block diagrams
System component types are sensor, actuator, computation, co-ordination, communication and interface

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009

Systems Engineering

Slide 33

Conclusion

Systems engineering is hard! There will never be an easy answer to the problems of complex system development
Software engineers do not have all the answers  but may be better at taking a systems  viewpoint
Disciplines need to recognise each others  strengths and actively rather than reluctantly  cooperate in the systems engineering process


Systems Engineering

Slide 34

Sommerville 2000, Medvidovic 2006, Mejia 2009