A research on measuring and reducing problem complexity to increase system affordability: From theory to practice

Alejandro Salado, Roshanak Nilchiani

    Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

    11 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Requirement engineering is the cornerstone of systems engineering. Numerous large scale engineered systems face schedule delays, cost overruns and performance shortfalls that can be traced back to the requirements they need to fulfill. In fact, previous research has demonstrated strong relationship between requirements and systems affordability. This paper summarizes and puts into context the authors' novel contributions in three domains of requirements engineering: systems theory, complexity science, and systems methodologies. The authors propose new theorems and their proofs on requirements affecting affordability, propose a new complexity metric at requirement stage that measures the complexity limit of the system at conceptual stage (even before a specific design is determined), and propose two methodologies to elicit excess-free requirement sets and to identify conflicting requirements more effectively. The paper showcases the value of structuring a research in such a manner, i.e. from theory to practice, enabling strengthening the bounds between theorists and practitioners.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)21-30
    Number of pages10
    JournalProcedia Computer Science
    Volume44
    Issue numberC
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 2015
    Event18th Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions, PSI 2015, 5-6 February 2015, Moscow, Russian Federation and the 1st Conference on Plasma and Laser Research and Technologies, PLRT 2015, 18-20 February 2015, Moscow, Russian Federation - Sankt Augustin, Germany
    Duration: 7 Jun 2013 → …

    Keywords

    • Problem complexity
    • Requirements engineering
    • Systems engineering methods
    • Systems theory

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