On the Characterization of Missions of Systems-of-Systems

A system-of-systems (SoS) can be understood as a set of complex, independent, heterogeneous constituent systems, which are composed to form a larger and more complex system aiming at accomplishing a given mission. Each constituent system accomplishes its own individual mission and is able to collaboratively contribute to the accomplishment of the global mission of the SoS. Despite the importance and central role played by missions in SoS, the current literature lacks of studies focused on analyzing such missions and their specificities. The existing initiatives are domain-specific and are still in an initial stage of development. In this context, the main goal of this paper is to present a study about how missions of SoS can be defined, specified, represented, and implemented. Due to the limitations of the existing proposals for SoS, we have performed a systematic mapping on missions of systems, in a broader extent, aiming at identifying elements that can be brought to SoS. In this paper, we discuss such elements related to missions and other important issues that must be considered when shifting from single and monolithic systems to SoS.