Many companies, particularly those in aerospace, telecommunications, defense and automotive, have switched over to SysML (Systems Modeling Language).
SysML is a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering applications. It supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems.
Both the definition and maintenance of SysML is overseen by the Object Management Group (OMG), which describes itself as an international, open membership, not-for-profit technology standards consortium, founded in 1989.
OMG standards are driven by vendors, end-users, academic institutions and government agencies. But the most important aspect is OMG oversees the definition and maintenance of SysML specifications. This oversight gives engineers and programmers the ability to use one language for many purposes during all phases of the software lifecycle for all system sizes.
The latest version of SysML is 1.6, which was published in December 2019. Some of the changes made, include:
- The enumerations FlowDirection, FeatureDirection and ControlValue were renamed to FlowDirectionKind, FeatureDirectionKind, and ControlValueKind to satisfy the naming convention of enumeration types that the name should have the postfix “Kind.”
- The BindingConnector now has an additional alternative notation. In combination with proxy ports, the binding connector appears very often in internal block diagrams, and the keyword «equal» clutters the diagram.
- SysML 1.6 now provides formally defined constraints statements written in OCL. In summary, 22 pages of OCL statements have improved the SysML specification.
- Removal of the constraint that properties typed by a block must be defined as an end of an association. In practice, you can now, for example, create part properties in an internal block diagram without modeling a composition association relationship.
Compared to its predecessor UML (Unified Modeling Language), SysML is a comparatively little language that is easier to learn and apply. Since SysML removes many of UML’s software-centric constructs, the overall language measures smaller both in diagram types and total constructs.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers SysML Training Crash Course, a 4-day class that covers the concepts, requirements, tools, and techniques of Systems Modeling Language (SysML).
Additionally, Tonex offers more than a dozen other important courses in Model Based Systems Engineering. These include:
- Requirements Engineering Workshop with Use Cases – A 3-day course that describes possible interactions involving a system and its environment.
- Patent Engineering with SysML – A 3-day hands-on workshop that provides new insights into using formal modelling language to both model your products and systems, while being able to reuse and modify generated SysML diagrams for patents, thereby saving time and money in addition to improving project visibility and accuracy.
- Hands-On MBSE Training / Creating SysML Models Workshop – A 3-day combo course covering modeling of complex systems, System of Systems (SoS), aerospace, military and advanced deep space applications.
- SysML Training / Systems Modeling Language Training — A 3-day course that provides technical details of SysML as a systems engineering modeling language.
- Advanced SysML Training / Creating SysML Models – A 3-day course where participants learn to create SysML models using tools and frameworks.
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.