Service-oriented Life Cycles for Developing Transdisciplinary Engineering Systems

A transdisciplinary computational model requires extensive computational resources to study the behavior of complex engineering systems by computer simulation. The large system under study that consists of hundreds or thousands of variables is often a complex engineering design system for which simple, intuitive analytical solutions are not readily available. In this paper the basic concepts of mogramming (modeling and programming, or both) for N-3 (three-dimensional design structure matrix) diagramming in a Service-ORriented Computing enviRonment (SORCER) are presented. On the one hand, mogramming with service variables allows for computational fidelity with multiple services, evaluations, and sources of data. On the other hand, any combination of local and remote services in the system can be described as a collaborative service federation of engineering applications, tools, and utilities. A service-oriented lifecycle for all phases of mogram-based systems development reflecting N-3 diagraming is presented. In particular all basic phases from inception through analysis, design, construction, transition, and maintenance are outlined in a service-oriented framework for deploying transdisciplinary engineering design systems.