SAE 599 Model Driven Systems Architecting Summer 2007
A Winsor Brown Mondays, 6:00 to 9:10 PM
Office Number: SAL 332
Office Phone Number: 213/740-6599
Home Office (mobile): 714/891-6043
Fax Number: 213/740-4927
Email Address:
Office Hours: 4:45 pm to 5:45 pm on Monday. Contact in advance is required.
TA Name: TBD
Phone Number: TBD
E-mail: TBD
Course Text: none.
Required Readings:
1. Rechtin, E. (1991). Systems Architecting: Creating and Building Complex Systems; Chapter 3. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-880345-5. The primary course reader is a reprint of this book, which is otherwise currently out of print.
2. Maier, M. W., & Rechtin, E. (2002). The Art of Systems Architecting (2nd Ed.); Part 3. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press. ISBN: 0-8493-0440-7.
3. IEEE Recommended Practice for Architectural Description of Software-Intensive Systems, IEEE Std 1471-2000.
4. OMG Systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML) Specification; Final Adopted Specification ptc/06-05-04; May 2006.
6. OMG Systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML™) Tutorial (11 July 2006); SysML-Tutorial-Baseline-to-INCOSE-060524-low_res.pdf.
5...N. White papers and tutorials on each tool (all downloadable from the web).
Pre-requisite: SAE 549 or permission of the instructor (with additional required readings).
Course Objectives
1. Introduce principles and approaches for modeling systems using SysML, including how to organize the models, how to model the system structure, how to integrated text-based requirements and constraints with the model, and how to model at the right level of abstraction.
2. To acquaint the student with the current concepts and practices of Model Driven Systems Architecting (MDSA), which include architecture models' linkages to requirements, analyses and design precision; approaches to managing complexity; improved architectural communications; and enhanced re-usability of systems designs.
3. To enable the student to produce various artifacts used in MDSA, including demonstrating an understanding of the inter-relationships among these artifacts and how they fit in the process(es) of a basic architectural modeling method. This includes how various tools are used in MDSA, including analyses of their strengths and weaknesses and consequences (how a tool and it's implied or explicit approaches might affect the design).
Model driven systems architecting is a rapidly evolving part of systems architecting. The course will use the basics of system architecture modeling, as described in Chapter 3 of Sytems Architecting: Creating and Building Complex Systems. The currently available tools and approaches will be explored and contrasted with the basics.
Students will install and use at least three different modeling tools with "simulation" capability. Modeling for requirements elicitation (behavioral demonstration) and as bases for analytical data-producing simulations will be performed by the students.
Course Schedule
Week / Topic / Reading /1 / Overview of Course; Review of Rechtin (R) Ch. 3 (Modeling, Simulating and Prototyping); Introductions to the Incremental Commitment Model and SysML; and a basic architectural modeling method (a "design" methodology for architecting) using SysML models and MDSA / R Ch. 3; IEEE 1421; SysML Tutorial
2 / SysML Structure Diagrams; Getting started with Rhapsody and SysML / TBD
3 / SysML Behavior Diagrams, including Activity, State Machine and Use-Case Diagrams; Getting started with Artisan Real-Time Studio / TBD
4 / SysML Requirement and Parametric Diagrams; Introduction to project its Operational Concept and Feasibility Rationale documents; Getting started with an extended Rational Systems Architect and SysML / TBD
5 / "Model Integrated Computing" and Generic Modeling Environment (Guest Lecture) / TBD
6 / Maier & Rechtin (M&R) on system architecture models.
Discussion of approaches and selection of projects; OMG's Model Driven Architecting. / M&R Part 3; TBD
7 / Mid-term exam
8 / DoDAF and Model Driven System Architecting;
Rhapsody executable model example development and discussion / TBD
9 / Rational Systems Architect – executable SysML models (Guest Lecture)
GME executable model example development and discussion / TBD
10 / Artisan Real-Time Studio example (Guest Lecture) / TBD
11 / Project Presentations, Review and Feedback / TBD
12 / Conclusion
Course lecture topics in second half (weeks 8-12) subject to change based on availability of Guest Lecturers.
Course Assignments and Due Dates
Number / Name for assignment / Due date (week) /1 / Rhapsody: an executable model in and lessons learned report / 3
2 / Artisan Real-Time Studio: an executable model and lessons learned report / 4
3 / Rational Systems Architect: an executable SysML model and lessons learned report. / 5
4 / Outline of OCD and Feasibility Rationale "slices" of course project. / 5
5 / GME: an executable model and lessons learned report. / 6
6 / Project Definition: OCD and Architectural Issues / 8
7 / Project Update: Initial models and issues / 9
8 / Project Presentation: description, approach and preliminary results / 11
9 / Final Project Report and Individual Critique / 12
Assignments will be due one week following the class in which it is assigned. Written documentation will be minimized, but will include time/effort reporting for learning and modeling, and lessons learned. Credit for all but your Project Report will be based on assessment of your rationale(s) and lessons learned. Assignments may be delivered in two ways: (1) email or fax directly to the DEN office on the USC campus, or (2) given to the instructor in class. In either case, soft-copy of ALL materials including models is also required.
Project Report Sections
Number / Name for assignment / Initial Draft due (week) /1 / Executive Overview / 8
2 / System's OCD / 8
3 / Stakeholder and Concerns Summary / 8
… / Architecture models, design of analysis to support architectural decision making / 10
N / Feasibility Rationale subset including risk mitigation approach(es) / 11
N+1 / Analysis Summary and Conclusions / 11
Late assignments will not be given full credit unless the student notifies the instructor in advance of special situations causing the assignments to be late. It is recognized that personal emergencies often prevent the submission of homework on the assigned dates. In these cases the student must notify the professor in advance of the due date to be eligible for full credit for the homework.
The fact that the instructor or the TA has made comments on a homework or project report section is no guarantee that the assignment is an “A” or any other grade.
For project report sections, above, the initial drafts must be sent to the TA by the week shown. The TA will just determine that a draft has been made and that the work is on topic. He will not assess the assignment for quality or a grade.
The mid-term exam must be written on paper with pen or pencil during the allotted exam time. The use of computers is not allowed. Anyone unable to write because of a physical disability will be accommodated in accordance with University rules. See “Other Considerations” below.
Individual Critique
The topics for this critique will be announced in the next to the last class. It will include a section for comments and significant lessons learned, and a section that aggregates personal observations of incorrect implementations or interpretations (misunderstandings) of SysML and MDSA The Individual Critique is worth 6% of the grade.
Grading Method
¨ The class grade is based on a combination of the assignments, a mid-term exam and the project report.
¨ In keeping with the objectives of understanding both the concepts and practices of model driven systems architecting, the homework and project report will focus on the models, that is to say, their use in the practice of model driven systems architecting, while the mid-term will focus on an understanding of the concepts.
¨ The assignments cumulatively will be worth 34% of the total grade. Assignments that are related to the project report will be worth 2% each. The four assignments not related to the project report will be worth 7% each of the total grade.
¨ A criteria sheet is provided describing the expectations for each assignment. An assignment fulfilling all the criteria will receive a score of 4.0. Assignments not meeting the criteria will be graded proportionate to the correctness/appropriateness of the response.
¨ The professor, upon request, may answer questions regarding an individual's assignments. However, this review does not constitute a guarantee of any particular grade.
¨ A midterm exam will be given in the eighth class session. This exam will be worth 30% of the total grade. Remote students will follow the usual DEN protocol for exam.
¨ The Final Project Report will be worth 30%.
¨ The Individual Critique, including class participation summarization, is worth 6%.
¨ There will be no written FINAL examination.
¨ All homework, exams and the project report will be graded by the professor or the teaching assistant.
Project
A project report will be due on the final day of classes, that is, the end of week 15. Although there is no strict minimum or maximum size, the paper will normally be about 20 to 30 pages. The report will focus on a systems architectural analysis of some aspect of a system to be selected by the student, and will contain the appropriate systems architecting model artifacts to as described in the class.
Students are encouraged to select their project topic early in the semester so that the system they describe in the section assignments will be the same system they describe in the project report. The system may be related to your professional work, suitably modified so that it is not proprietary. Alternatively, there will be a selection of other systems from which to choose. The student may incorporate the section assignments as parts of the project report.
Project reports will be prepared by individual students. In the case of a system related to your professional work which is also being (or has been) used by other students, each student MUST focus on a different aspect. Shared material from other students or sources must be acknowledged, and an increased emphasis in grading the report or assignment will be proportionately placed on the non-shared material. The use of shared material MUST be identified ahead of time, so the proportionality of the grading can be determined in advance for any assignment in which it appears.
The professor or his teaching assistant (TA) will approve the project and topic selections. Students at the same site who are working on the same project may share material as described above.
The final project report is worth 30% of the total grade. The project report is graded as a whole but parts of the project-related assignments may become part of the final project report after revision by the student following review by the professor, TA or colleagues.
Each section of the project report will contain a one-page discussion of the section in relation to the rest of the report. The one-page discussion will summarize, first, how the individual section of the report was developed, and secondly, how it relates to the rest of the report.
Class Participation
As this is a webcast course, 100% attendance in the classroom is not mandatory. However, I strongly encourage you to ask questions and participate in discussions regarding the lectures. If you are attending the class from a remote site, we will be using a toll free number as a conference bridge. Your classroom participation will be factored into your final grade via the Individual Critique.
E-MAIL!!! I strongly encourage your use of e-mail for questions, comments, examples, etc. However, I have a policy that requires ALL student email to have a USC "reply-to" address, and I and my TAs only send to your USC email address. Of course, if you prefer face-to-face interaction or telephone conversations, that's equally acceptable! For remote students that cannot attend the class in the DEN Studio, or must view a delayed-broadcast webcast, or are frustrated by the telephone process: I consider your e-mail as equivalent classroom participation!
Students are encouraged to call in questions or comments during the class so that the professor and other students may hear the question and the answers during the class period. Other comments or questions may be phoned or emailed to the professor. These comments, questions and answers may also be shared with the rest of the class. Questions and comments are voluntary but can figure into the class grade via the "Individual Critique".
Other Considerations
Exams are required to be handwritten. If a student has a recognized disability with respect to writing, he or she should follow the procedure on disabilities in the last paragraph. Laptops or other electronic devices are not allowed for exams.
Effective use of English is a requirement for this course. Exams and assignments will primarily be graded on content, not on writing and composition skills, however poor English will be taken into account since it makes it harder to evaluate content.
The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering adheres to the University's policies and procedures governing academic integrity. Students are expected to be aware of and to observe the academic integrity standards, and to expect those standards to be enforced in this course.
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213)740-0776.