Systems Engineering for the Digital Age

Chapter 14Architecting a Tradespace Analysis Framework in a Digital Engineering Environment

Daniel Browne, Santiago Balestrini‐Robinson, and David Fullmer

Georgia Tech Research Institute, Systems Engineering Research Division, Smyrna, GA, USA

Introduction

This chapter seeks to explain how to develop an architecture for conducting tradespace analysis in the context of a digital engineering environment, i.e., how should the reader develop a Digital Engineering Tradespace Analysis Framework (DETAF).

Designing and implementing a DETAF is as much an art as it is a science. It is not possible to fully describe a detailed recipe for developing such a capability, but there are general concerns that must be addressed and guidelines that can aid in the process. As such, this chapter will present these through some example applications and leverage relevant analogies when possible, instead of presenting a theory‐based approach to the problem.

The chapter is organized as follows. First, an overview of the hierarchy of meaning is provided, offering the necessary context for the primary purpose behind any DETAF: traverse the hierarchy from knowledge down to data and then back up again to new knowledge. Then, a generic decomposition of a DETAF is described, identifying each of the key elements necessary for implementation. To facilitate the upfront design, key considerations are enumerated that can guide a team in ensuring the necessary use cases are satisfied by a specific DETAF implementation. ...