Model-based multi-layer service design and identification method for combat system-of-systems

Both developmental and operational perspectives are demanding a combat system-of-systems (SoS) to be reconfigurable, flexible, and adaptable in a dynamic environment, as exemplified by the modular open system approach and Mosaic warfare, respectively. Service-oriented architecture has been considered as the promising solution approach to achieve these traits in combat SoS for a long time and has recently become technically acceptable for cyber-physical systems. However, how to identify and design services for combat SoS architecture remains vague, and it still lacks a formal and standardized process to guide the service decomposition and design. Therefore, using the Department of Defense Architecture Framework and extended meta-models, this paper proposes a model-based multi-layer, multi-aspect service design and identification method to support the service decomposition both qualitatively and quantitatively. The service design process includes the intra-level process across aspects of requirement, structure, behavior, parameter, and data, and the inter-level process across different layers of services. The identification method uses the service models as input and decomposes the services based on identification principles and the function clustering algorithm. The application to a distributed air and missile defense SoS illustrates the whole process of combat service design and identification and demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach.