Choosing Aggregation Functions for Modeling System of Systems Performance

The current trend in system of systems design is to explore larger and more diverse alternative spaces earlier in the design process. However, the ability to do so is constrained by the efficiency of the models used during the process. Previous research has suggested that aggregation function based models for calculating the overall performance of a system of systems concept can be a very effective way to explore such alternative spaces efficiently. However, such modeling frameworks require the creation of the aggregation functions and as of yet no method or framework has been proposed for choosing the functions that properly model anything but the simplest system of systems. This research surveys existing aggregation methods from the perspective of system of systems modeling, and attempts to find families of aggregation functions that are well suited for modeling relevant types of alternatives and metrics. The goal is ultimately to populate an aggregation based modeling framework with the correct aggregation functions given all the desired alternative types and metrics of performance. This paper takes the first steps in developing the framework by identifying candidate functions and methods which may be appropriate for an aggregation-based approach