Challenges in Multi-View Model Consistency Management for Systems Engineering

Abstract

A way to handle the complexity of cyber-physical systems is model-based systems engineering (MBSE) with multiple viewpoints. These viewpoints satisfy different concerns, but they likely have information dependencies and overlaps among each other. Inconsistencies can be introduced whenever there are changes in only some of the views without consistent synchronization in other dependent views. In this paper, we motivate why consistency management is important in multi-view MBSE and define requirements for it. By analyzing the State of the Art, we identify limitations in (multi-view) consistency management approaches, especially for inconsistency detection. Besides general performance issues, we notice primarily that most approaches are limited to or at least tested on only very specific views and tools with homogeneous models and few specific predefined consistency rules. Furthermore, in most approaches we cannot find solutions regarding subsequent updates of consistency rules by the user, allowance of tolerating inconsistency, and handling confidentiality. These literature gaps pose open research challenges for making multi-view consistency management more applicable in the industry.