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SE: High-Level Design

Page history last edited by polly okunieff 13 years, 2 months ago

Return to Understanding Systems Engineering

Previous: System Requirements

Next:  Detailed Design

   

High-Level Design Step Description

In this step a system design is created based on the system requirements. This includes a high-level design that defines the overall framework for the system. Subsystems are identified and decomposed further into components. The key internal and external interfaces are defined. Requirements are iterated and further refined with the development of system models.

 

 

Purpose

The purpose of this step is to create a high-level project architecture that meets the system requirements developed in the previous step. One of the key qualities of the system engineering process is to consider alternatives and this is the primary step where that occurs for the project. This project architecture needs to define the subsystems that make up the overall project and define the interfaces (between subsystems or external) that the project will deploy.  

 

 

Activities

 A set of activities that support the purpose above are:

 

  • Develop and evaluate alternative project architectures (or high-level designs). The project team should define several candidate architectures that appear to meet the requirements. As part of this activity the team should consider what subsystems or components can be provided with off-the-shelf components or systems.

 

  • Evaluate alternative project architectures. The team should evaluate each alternative based on a set of criteria. This step is similar to the tradeoff study performed in the Feasibility Study/ Concept Exploration step.

 

  • Identify and evaluate internal and external interfaces. Interfaces define the boundaries of the system (the external interfaces) and the subsystems (internal to the high level design). Consider industry standards for the definition of the interfaces.

 

  • Analyze and allocate requirements. Once a set of subsystems (and interfaces) are defined the system requirements need to be allocated to each subsystem or interface. In some cases additional detailed requirements will need to be developed to describe the requirements on a portion of the system.

 

  •  Define integration plan and subsystem verification plans. In parallel with the design effort is the definition of the Integration effort (in the Integration Plan) and if the system complexity warrants it, the development of subsystem verification plans.

     

  • Document the high level design and review with stakeholders. Once again, the results of the step should be documented and reviewed with the stakeholders . The key review milestone at the conclusion of this step is called the Preliminary Design Review. 


 Related Resources

Chapter 4.5 System Design Systems Engineering for Intelligent Transportation Systems, January 2007

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/cadiv/segb/views/document/Sections/Section3/3_5_2.htm?bcsi_scan_AEE9EC396C942F39=0&bcsi_scan_filename=3_5_2.htm

Cost: Free

 

Chapter 7: Design Phase - Systems Development Life Cycle Guidance Document, Department of Justice, January 2003

http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/irm/lifecycle/ch7.htm

Cost: Free

 

Buede D. M., The Engineering Design of Systems: Models and Methods, Wiley Inter-Science, 2000

Cost: (price may range from $54 - $110 depending on retail source)

 

Martin, J.N., Systems Engineering Guidebook: A Process for Developing Systems and Products, CRC Press, 1997

Cost: (price may range from $83 - $100 depending on retail source)

 

Note:  Much of the material on this page was extracted from  http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/LessonSystemsEng

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