Integration, Verification, Validation, Test, and Evaluation (IVVT&E) Framework for System of Systems (SoS)

The traditional systems engineering (SE) methodologies for integration, verification, validation, test and evaluation (IVVT&E) throughout the lifecycle are focused on expected outcomes (behavior, capabilities), which may not necessarily apply for system of systems (SoS), where some emergent behavior and knowledge may be needed in untested scenarios (unknown environments). Next-generation SoS consisting of partially or fully decentralized systems are incorporating advances in computing, sensing, and communications operations to address uncertainty and emergence in SoS. Thus, current standardized and formalized IVVT&E methodologies will need to be modified, adapted, or an evolutionary IVVT&E framework for SoS is required to test and evaluate integrated SoS capabilities in unknown scenarios. This paper discusses several potential strategies and explores possible methodologies that may be applied to develop a SoS IVVT&E framework, as applied to an unmanned aerial system (UAS), based on existing architectural frameworks such as Department of Defense Architecture Framework (DoDAF).