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A method for system interface reduction using N 2 charts
Author(s) -
Becker Ofri,
Asher Joseph Ben,
Ackerman Ilya
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
systems engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.474
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1520-6858
pISSN - 1098-1241
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6858(2000)3:1<27::aid-sys2>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - interface (matter) , reduction (mathematics) , computer science , transformation (genetics) , computation , representation (politics) , chart , algorithm , mathematical optimization , graph , theoretical computer science , mathematics , parallel computing , biochemistry , chemistry , statistics , geometry , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , politics , political science , law , gene
This work focuses on system interface reduction using N 2 charts . The N 2 charts method, which has been first introduced by NASA, and the tools it provides for the systems engineer are explained and demonstrated here in detail. The system interface reduction problem is defined and introduced as finding a reduced order partitioning of the system elements that satisfies either of three different criteria. In order to apply optimization techniques to the problem of system interface reduction, it is first needed to translate it into a quantitative form. A transformation method of the problem is developed after which the problem can be solved by a suitable algorithm. An interesting and useful equivalent approach of the problem in terms of graph theory is provided. A computerized algorithm is used to demonstrate the solutions of two different examples. An analysis of this algorithm's computation complexity and its runtime as a function of the N 2 chart 's order is presented. This tool is planned to assist the designer of the system in the partitioning and representation of the tasks to be performed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Syst Eng 3: 27–37, 2000