Interface Management for Telecommunication System Design through OPM and DSM-based Approaches

Abstract

Telecommunication systems require precise interface management and analysis as interactions play a key role in realizing the core functionality of such systems. This paper models and analyzes the interface relationships of different components of an industrial Reconfigurable Transmitarray Antenna system through Design Structure Matrix (DSM), which is a universal tool for precise interface management in various engineering disciplines. The novelty lies in the introduction of new types of interface relationships for telecommunication systems such as Radio Frequency, Electrical, Analog, and Digital, in an extension of typical interaction definitions in complex systems (Spatial, Structural, Energy, Material, and Informational). The approach presented in this paper aims to utilize and enhance systems engineering methods such as Object-Process Methodology (OPM) and DSM. While these tools have not been widely used to represent the nature of telecommunication systems, we demonstrate their potential to improve interface management process. The study of such a system led us to focus more attention on the signal flow as an interaction type. This type of focus is certainly less obvious in mechanical systems.