The Mathematical Formalism Domain Special Interest Group (or more simply, the MathSIG) was chartered in 2009 with an initial scope focused soley on the mathematical basis for model transformations that would enable system architects to compose higher level transformations more easily from lower level ones. This was motivated by the concepts of the OMG Model Driven Architecture® which, at the time, were evolving and eventually led to MDA Guide Revision 2.0. Parallel to the evolution was advanced research on relational orientation as a candidate mathematical basis. Strongly influenced by the aerospace industry, a framework was proposed by liaison researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This was coined as the Relational Oriented Systems Engineering Technology Trade-off and Analysis framework (ROSETTA).

The collaboration with the aerospace industry expanded into the automotive industry in 2013 when a five year multi-university programme of research was launched in the United Kingdom by Jaguar Land Rover and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council aimed at simulation innovation and virtual prototyping. During the course of the programme, the ROSETTA framework evolved, matured, and moved closer to commercialisation. In 2018 the first OMG standard involving ROSETTA was adopted. Since then continued application to the electric vehicle market has led to further evolution of the concepts and methods of relational orientation that demand increasing levels of mathematical computation capabilities to be integrated into object-oriented model based systems engineering. This is the driving force behind the current focus of the MathSIG. The group has been re-organised and the mission statement has been streamlined for work not just on the mathematical basis for model transformations but also the foundational formalisms that underly MBSE and can be implemented in mathematically based tools using OMG standards.

Our Mission is to work collaboratively work with OMG groups to achieve the following goals:

• Develop mathematical formalisms for OMG model based frameworks and standards
• Develop model transformations using mathematical formalisms that will enable systems architects to compose higher level model transformations more easily from more granular model transformations, thereby reducing the complexity of system design and analysis
• Develop foundational formalisms that underly MBSE and can be expressed via OMG model-based standards

The MathSIG will continue to bring unique expertise and experience in advanced research into the commercialization of complex systems using mathematically based MBSE.

Stay tuned!

For the past year the MathSIG has been exploring the pathway to the future evolution of UPR. How to best express the concepts of ROSETTA and Constraint Driven Design via OMG model-based standards depends heavily on the outcomes of the SysML 2.0 finalisation. Four presentations have been made to three key OMG groups during the September 2021 - June 2022 Quarterly meetings:

• June 2022
  1. “UPR 2.0”, 2022-06_presentation_to_se_dsig.pptx
• March 2022
  1. “UPR: Architecture Specification with Structures and Transformations”, 2022-03_presentation_to_ontology_psig.pptx
  2. “Review, Update and Pathway for UPR 1.0 Evolution”, 2022-03_presentation_to_adtf.pptx
• September 2001
  1. “Update and Pathway for UPR 1.0 Evolution”, 2021-09_presentation_to_mars.pptx

A presentation will also be made to the Ontology PSIG in upcoming the September 2022 Quarterly meeting.

UPR 1.0 was adopted through the RFC process. The UPR 1.0 RFC was issued in March 2018 and the standard was adopted in June 2018, published Janurary 2019.

Access to UPR 1.0 can be found here

This specification of a UML^TM profile adds capabilities to UML for a comprehensive facility to structure information in support of model based analysis for architecture optimization and system design. This extension is called UPR: the UML profile for ROSETTA, in reference to its underlying mathematical foundation (the Relational Oriented Systems Engineering Technology Tradeoff and Analysis framework, for which an overview is provided in Clause 6.2 of the specification). The relational orientation of the framework further supports model transformation between architecture design and detailed system design.

A comprehensive facility has been lacking to support information structuring and integration for architecture optimization and Constraint-Driven Design analysis across distributed domain experts in a system design team. The facility must also support efficient and effective transformation of the system architecture into detailed system design. In current international standards [ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010:2011], system architecture description is conceptualized using elements and relationships between elements.

Submitter: ZTI Systems Ltd

Contact: Zahir Ismail, ZTI Systems Ltd Calder Court, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool, FY4 2RH, UK

If you are interested in getting involved with this group on the above topics, please contact：

Prof Charles Dickerson, Chair of the MathSig, c.dickerson@lboro.ac.uk and Dr Siyuan Ji, s.ji@lboro.ac.uk