MBA: A system of systems architecture model for supporting collaborative work

A system of systems (SoS) represents a set of independent systems cooperating to achieve a common goal. Developing an SoS is complex and difficult, requiring significant efforts from system architects to coherently interface systems and make them interoperable. In this research, a core architecture to simplify the development of SoS supporting collaborative work is proposed. The approach is based on a new model called MBA: “Memory Broker Agent,” consisting of agents for encapsulating systems, brokers for handling requests for services and results, and memories for capitalizing and managing knowledge. This paper introduces the MBA model and the corresponding SoS core architecture. A prototype implementing the proposed approach has been built and applied to a case study in the software industry. Experiments were performed to show the interest of using a system of systems architecture and assessing the work to do for integrating a new system into an existing MBA SoS.