Systems Engineering

Conceptual System Design

Son V.T. Dao, ISE, IU Conceptual System Design

Homework submission & discussion
Exercise 1: Pick a system with which you are familiar
and verify that it is indeed a system as per system
definition. Name and identify the components,
attributes and relationships in the system you picked.
Exercise 2: Identify and contrast a physical and
conceptual system, examples. Identify and contrast a
static and dynamic system, examples. Identify and
contrast a closed and open system, examples.

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Team project proposal?
Team 1: Các, Dương, Duy, Hà, Hiếu
Team 2: Lân, Lê, Sơn, Tân, Toàn
Team 3: Tú, Triết, Triều, Vũ, Vy

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Why do we need conceptual design?
Hint: System life-cycle
Cost
100%

80%
Cost Cost
60% Committed Incurred

40%

20%

0%
Conceptual Detailed Construction Use, Time
& Preliminary Design & or Refinement
Design Integration Production & Disposal

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Textbook

Chapter 3, Systems Engineering and Analysis, B.S.

Blanchard and W. J. Fabrycky, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall.

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Learning Objectives
Understand “Conceptual design”
Perform necessary steps of a conceptual design
process
Identify methodologies may be applied

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Conceptual System Design

1. Identification of Need
2. Feasibility Analysis
3. Advanced System Planning
4. System Requirement Analysis
5. Technical Performance Measures (TPM)
6. Functional Analysis and Allocation
7. Trade-off Analysis
8. System Specification
9. Conceptual Design Review

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System Design
1. Identification of Need

2. System Feasibility Analysis

3. Advance Research
System 4. System Requirement Analysis Technology
+ Operational Requirements
Planning Development
+ Maintenance and Support Requirements
5. Technical Performance Measures (TPM) and
6. Functional Analysis and Allocation
(System Level) Application
7. Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation

8. System Specification

9. Conceptual Design Review

Preliminary System Design

(Adapted From: Blanchard and Fabrycky,

“System Engineering and Analysis”
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 1. Identification of Need

Need analysis → specific system-level requirements

Questions:
- What functions must be performed to meet the

needs?
- What is the primary/secondary functions?

- What must be accomplished to meet the need?

- When? Where? How often/ with what frequency?

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1. Identification of Need

• Team effort
• Must involve customer!
• Must include: initial system capabilities, limitations
• WHATs not HOWs
• Output: Broad statement of the requirements of
the system

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2. Feasibility Analysis

Identify possible system-level approaches

Evaluate most likely approaches based on
- Performance
- Effectiveness
- Maintenance and Logistic Support
- Economic Criteria
Recommend a preferred course of action
consistent with resource constraints.

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2. Feasibility Analysis
Exercise: Problem of river crossing. A regional
transportation authority needs to provide 2-way
traffic across a river.
•What are the possible approaches?

•What are the limiting factors?

•Feasibility analysis

•What appears to be the best?

Group exercise: Perform feasibility analysis for your

own project

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Example: River crossing
Methods Capacity Speed Maint. & $$$
Support
Tunnel 4 3 1 4
Bridge 4 3 2 2
Airlift 1 3 1 4
Ferry/Barges 2 1 1 1
Rerouting the river 4 4 1 4

Scale: 4 Very high 3 High 2 Fair 1 Low

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4. System Requirements Analysis
• Operational Requirements
• Maintenance and Support Requirements

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Operational Requirements

1. Mission Profile or Scenario

2. Performance and Related Parameters
3. Operational deployment/distribution
4. Operational life cycle
5. Utilization Requirements
6. Effectiveness factors
7. Environment factors

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Operational Requirements
1. Mission profile
1a. Scenario sketch
Ex: fighter jet takes off from an aircraft carrier, flies
100miles @100ft, picks up some VIP, and returns to
the ship.

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 Operational Requirements
1. Mission profile
1b. Time line diagram
Ex: simplified semiconductor fabrication process

Wafer Wells/ D/S Poly-Si Contact

cleaning Isolation formation implants formation formation

0 60 600 610 630 650

Metal Via Bonding pad Dicing

formation formation formation

700 800 900 950

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Operational Requirements
1. Mission profile
1c. PERT diagram (program evaluation review technique)
Show relationship between input & output, component, sub-
system and function

Input Output
function

feedback

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 Exercise
Draw PERT diagram of the previous aircraft example

aircraft - Take-off
carrier aircraft
fuel - Cruise @100ft
- Fly 100miles - Touch-down
Preflight check
- Receive the VIP
- Prepare to fly back
- Fly back
Establish com. - Contact the VIP
passenger

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Operational Requirements - Comparison

Notes
Scenario sketch Give a general view quickly
Timeline diagram Detailed information,
essential for critical phase
PERT diagram Show relationship between
in-outputs, functions,
relationships

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Operational requirements
What else? QFD – Quality function deployment
Later…

Customer needs Benchmark data

Specification
target

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Operational Requirements
Exercise: river crossing problems
1. Mission Profile or Scenario
2. Performance and Related Parameters
3. Operational deployment/distribution
4. Operational life cycle
5. Utilization Requirements
6. Effectiveness factors
7. Environment factors

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Operational Requirements
Exercise: river crossing problems
1. Mission Profile or Scenario
2. Performance and Related Parameters
3. Operational deployment/distribution
4. Operational life cycle
5. Utilization Requirements
6. Effectiveness factors
7. Environment factors

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Maintenance and Support Requirements

• Levels of Maintenance
(organizational/intermediate/manufacturer)
• Repair Policies
• Organizational Responsibilities
• Logistic Support Elements
• Effectiveness Requirements
• Environment
• Group exercise: Perform operational &
maintenance and support requirements for your
own project

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Maintenance and Support Requirements
Criteria Organizational Intermediate Manufacturer
Maintenance Maintenance Maintenance
Where? Operational site Mobile/semimobil Manufacturer
e units facility
Whom? Low-maintenance Intermediate- High-maintenance
skill personnel maintenance skill skill personnel
personnel
What? - Operational - Detailed - Complicated
checkout checkout factory
- Visual inspection - Limited adjustments/repair
- Minor service calibration - overhaul/ rebuild
- Replacement of - Major service - Detailed
some components - Major equipment calibration
repair

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5. Technical Performance Measures

• Qualitative and Quantitative Design Criteria

• Lead to the Development of Design Dependent
Parameters (DDP)
• Established as Viewed by the Customer!
• Group exercise: What are TPM of your project?

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6. Functional Analysis and Allocation

The process of translating system requirements into

detailed design criteria, along with the identification
of specific resource requirements at the subsystem
levels.
(More Later) Function 1 Function 2
Top-level
Function 3 functions

Function Function Function 2nd-level

1.1 1.2 1.3 functions

Function Function 3rd-level

1.3.1 1.3.2 functions

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7. Trade-off analysis
Design Requirement

Design 1 Design 2 Design 3

Different approach

- Define analysis goal

- Select evaluation criteria
- Identify data needs
- Identify evaluation techniques, models
- Evaluate design alternatives

No
Feasible?

Yes

System definition
(Adapted From: Blanchard and Fabrycky,
“System Engineering and Analysis”
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System Specification

System specification includes the technical,

performance, operational and support
characteristics for the system as an entity. It
includes the allocation of requirements of
functional areas, and it defines the various
functional - area interfaces.

Example of system specification format: pg 96, Fig.

3.27

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Then What?
Preliminary Design
Detail Design and Development
Production
Utilization and Support
Phaseout and Disposal

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Advanced System Planning

What does the program need to do to bring the

system into being?
System engineering management plan (SEMP):
implement system engineering plan; concurrent with
system specification
Preparation of a system specification: forms the basis
for lower level specification

More later

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