EE 484

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Reference: Engineering a small system, Kurt Skytte, IEEE Spectrum March 1991

Systems Engineering:“A logical process of activities which transforms a set of requirements arising from a specific mission objective into a full description of a system which fulfills the objective in an optimum way. It insures that all aspects of a project have been considered and integrated into a consistent whole.” 1998 Chambers Science and Technology Dictionary

In otherwords, system engineering translates a customer’s stated need into a set of requirements and specifications for a system’s performance and configuration. The process defines all the resources and specific tools needed plus the stages in the product’s development. It also sets up check-points at each stage in the design cycle to insure that objectives are met and that defects are corrected as early as possible, thus minimizing their impact on the development schedule and on the product’s cost and quality. The final system is then validated against the original requirements and specifications.

Systems Engineering Checklist

1. Requirements phase

2. System-design phase

3. Detailed design phase

4. System integration phase

5. Design verification and optimization phase

6. System validation phase

EE 484

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Requirements Phase

  • Consult the customer to ascertain a complete understanding of the mission objectives and needs
  • Have the project team take the statement of needs and use it to develop a detailed system level specification describing the system functional requirements

System-design phase

  • Develop a system architecture that supports the specified system requirements
  • Develop segment and subsystem level specifications

EE484

Requirements/Specifications/Parameters

1.Problem Description(Mission Objectives)

Send data collected at a remote site in Maine to the USC campus

Send computer data from Boston to Los Angeles

See the Super Bowl while cruising on your yacht in the Caribbean

Maintain continuous contact with all aircraft flying between Los Angeles and Tokyo

Lock and unlock your car from a distance of 30 feet or less(RKE system).

2.System -level design specification

The system- level specification defines the details for the total system and for the major segments . Thus a system-level specification defines the system’s architecture in terms of functional segments and their interfaces.

3.Segment-level specifications

The segment-level specification contains the following information:

a)segment functional requirements

b)subsystem definitions

c)interfaces

4.Subsystem specifications

The subsystem specification contains the following information:

a)subsystem functional requirements

b)unit or component definitions

c)detailed design parameters

5.Unit/component specifications

The unit/component specifications contain the following information:

a)unit/component performance parameters(e.g. amplifier-gain,bandwidth,DC power consumption)

b)size and weight

c)Environmental operating conditions

EE 484

TASK 1

  • Develop a set of questions to ask the customer(the instructor) to gain a better understanding of the mission objectives
  • Develop a preliminary system specification
  • Develop a candidate system architecture and identify

major segments and subsystems

Due Dates:

1. First round of questions—1/15/03

2. Major topics/headings in the system specification-1/22/03

3. Develop a strawman system architecture and identify

major segments and subsystems-1/22/03

4. Submit system specification and candidate system

architecture-no later than 3/12/03