System Architecture: Strategy and Product Development for Complex Systems, First Edition

5.4 Analysis of Internal Function

Internal Function

Next we analyze the internal function (Question 5b of Table 5.1). Within a system, there are internal functions and relationships among these internal functions. Together these define the functional architecture of the system. The externally delivered function, performance, and “ilities” emerge from these internal functions and relationships.

First, we identify the important internal functions or the entities of function (discussed in this section). Then we construct the functional architecture (discussed in Section 5.5) when we connect up the entities of function. These two steps are similar to the procedure used in systems engineering of functional decomposition. [2]

The key task is to identify ...