A systematic literature review on the mathematical underpinning of model-based systems engineering

Abstract

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) has initiated a Future of Systems Engineering (FuSE) program that includes a stream for advancing the theoretical foundations of the discipline of Systems Engineering (SE). A near-term goal of FuSE is to assess the adequacy of current theoretical foundations of SE. The discipline of SE is converging toward model-based practices (i.e., MBSE) that have not yet reached the maturity of model-based practices in other engineering domains. For example, finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics are grounded in mathematical theory, while, generally, MBSE is not. However, some attempts have been made to underpin MBSE with theoretical richness. This article presents a systematic literature study that surveyed state of the art on providing MBSE with mathematical foundations. Our protocol collected over 2000 publications that were reviewed for inclusion/exclusion, categorized, and analyzed. We provide insights to the type of mathematical theories used, domains of applications, and areas of SE to which the math was applied to, among other analysis. We also provide a synthesized discussion about the field moving forward, emphasizing positive trends along with the negatives and areas of concern. Overall, we found the field to be nascent.