Coordination of Constituent Systems for Functionalizing Systems of Systems: An Exploration

Coordinating the constituent systems of a system of systems (SoS) in operations is an important task for functionalizing the SoS. The choice of a coordinating strategy needs to consider the autonomy, belonging, and connectivity levels of constituent systems. The diversity and emergence characteristics of SoS are outcomes of coordination. This paper analyzes different strategies for coordinating constituent systems from the perspective of SoS characteristics and, therefore, derives the mechanism for choosing a coordinating strategy. Challenges are found in implementing the coordinating strategies for SoS. The paper summarizes representative challenges facing system engineers. Methods for addressing these are proposed, including the multi-stage multi-scale coordination and smart coordination of operating mode switches. An island energy system composed of both diesel engine generators and microgrids with renewable energy sources is presented in this paper as an example of SoS network. Various aspects of coordinating constituent systems in this SoS network are presented to illustrate how the choice and execution of coordinating strategies functionalize SoS.