Early Validation of SysML Architectures by Extending MBSE with Co-Simulation using FMI and SSP

Abstract

Due to complexity increases in modern systems and the digitalization paradigm shift, industrial development requires the integration of new technologies and methods to keep product quality high while reducing time to market. One emerging paradigm in the Systems Engineering (SE) discipline is ModelBased methods and technologies, and correspondingly Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is seeing increased adoption. With mature MBSE application, several benefits can be expected from the availability of models, even from the very early stages of development, enabling increased communication clarity, cross-domain collaboration, traceability, and analysis. Notably, MBSE enables (Co-)simulation even at the early stage of architecture/design by leveraging model-based capabilities. Co-simulation specifically enables a smooth and seamless integration of different models defined across layers of abstraction, for example, system logical architecture and system physical architecture. However, while MBSE is assisting with many aspects of development it is still a predominantly isolated set of activities throughout the development, especially on the left-hand side of the traditional V-model. In this work we discuss the status of Co-simulation in industrial MBSE and list several existing challenges, then we propose a novel framework for implementing Co-simulation and exemplify using a real scenario how we might address the observed challenges. The framework hinges on the newly proposed SSP standard and extends the currently industrially adopted FMI (version 3) standard through embedding the FMI file format using various scripts, demonstrated in the Python language for this paper. Finally, we propose a set of recommendations for future investigations to strengthen Co-simulation in industrial MBSE.