A modeling language to support early lifecycle requirements modeling for systems engineering

The current implementation of the SysML tends to be design-centric with minimal support for activities upstream of design such as product line engineering, goal conflict resolution and hazard/threat modeling. Furthermore, currently provided extensions, such as those for business modeling, tend to be narrowly focused. This paper describes ongoing research in providing systems engineering support for activities that take place prior to system requirements definition, including resolving goal conflicts, identifying and mitigating potential hazards and threats, and specifying features and feature variations in product lines. A new modeling language is proposed (referred to as the Unified Requirements Modeling Language). The core concepts of a single meta-model for requirements engineering are presented alongside exemplary usage showing the power of the language together with its graphical notation. The meta-model, for the first time, proposes a formal relationship between various types of actors, goals, requirements, product line components, and hazard and threat modeling artifacts that integrates with both UML and SysML.