How Do Knowledge Domains Come Together in Systems?

Abstract

Large systems engineering solutions typically involve dozens of knowledge domains. What are the principles that govern how knowledge and concepts in these domains come together? This is the research question that was triggered by our experience on a large radio telescope design project. The project team created numerous SysML models as well as several domain-specific models, but these could not be combined into a single comprehensive system model. Our inquiry into how knowledge domains arise and how they relate has led to a distinction between two kinds of knowledge domains: aspect knowledge domains and wholes knowledge domains. A key insight is that knowledge about (types of) wholes includes their view of every other whole that they interact with, in the form of a set of context roles with role profiles. Thus wholes knowledge includes both its relationship with relevant aspects as well as with other related wholes, making them key to how knowledge domains come together in systems. It indicates how we can create bridges between domain ontological models in the context of particular systems, so that systems models can be augmented by associations with applicable domain knowledge. It also leads to a conceptual model of systems engineering that can be used to reason about systems engineering practice. These are preliminary work-in-progress research findings, shared with a request for community validation and feedback.