OMG Certified Systems Modeling Professional   (OCSMP) Model User Available

September 8, 2010 - The OMG announces that the "OCSMP Model User", the first exam in the OMG Certified Systems Modeling Professional (OCSMP ) program, is now available world-wide through OMG's exam publisher Pearson VUE. Information on the OCSMP program and how to sign up and prepare for the Model User exam can be found at the OCSMP site.

Release of SysML version 1.2

June 16, 2010 - The OMG released SysML Version 1.2 as a formal specification.  The specification documents and schema files are linked from  www.omg.org/spec/SysML/1.2/.  The specification document without change bars is OMG document formal/2010-06-01.  The document including change bars from Version 1.1 is formal/2010-06-02.   The schema files are contained in OMG document ptc/2010-03-01.

Version 2.3 of UML, on which SysML now depends, was released as a formal specification in mid-May, and is available at www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.3. 

Notable changes in Version 1.2 of SysML include:

• Synchronization with changes in UML 2.3
  • Conjugate ports metamodel and notation
  • Naming of interruptible activity regions
• Inclusion of UML instance specifications
• Inclusion of UML structured activity nodes
• Inclusion of UML multiple item flow notation
• Improvements to Unit and QuantityKind support for value types, and a non-normative model to define systems of units and quantities

The SysML v1.3 Revision Task Force led by Roger Burkhart and Rick Steiner is continuing to work on proposed improvements to SysML based on feedback from the systems modeling community.

OMG-Certified Systems Modeling Professional (OCSMP) Program Update

June 11, 2010 - The certification program for OMG SysML has passed a critical milestone. The OMG-Certified Systems Modeling Professional (OCSMP) Level 1 Beta testing has concluded. The Level 1 exam is targeted to a Model User, where as the higher levels of certification are targeted to a Model Builder. We are pleased with the response from test-takers and have collected meaningful statistics said Jon Siegel, the OCSMP Program Manager. The next steps are to process the data, construct the final forms of the exam, set the passing cutoff score, and re-score all of the Beta exams to determine pass/fail results. When this is complete, beta takers will be informed, and all who pass will receive certificates. The OMG and Pearson VUE will also publish the exam in its final form which will be designated OCSMP Model User, OMG-OCSMP-MB100.

The second exam is targeted to the OCSMP Model Builder - Fundamental, and will be designated OMG-OCSMP-MB201. Information on the OCSMP is available at www.omg.org/ocsmp/ .

December 8, 2009 - Dr Rob Cloutier presented a summary of the preliminary SysML RFI Analysis Results at the SE DSIG meeting in Long Beach. The SysML Request for Information was issued at the June OMG meeting and responses were due on November 9, 2009. The RFI responses were submitted via an on-line survey that is available from the OMG SysML site at www.omgsysml.org . The intent of the RFI is to help guide the roadmap for future evolution of SysML, by understanding, what is working well, the issues, proposed solutions, and additional capabilities that are desired of the language. The RFI has two parts, where part I includes 22 questions related directly to the language, and part II includes 38 additional questions related to how SysML is used with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methods, tools, training, and metrics. Dr Rob Cloutier from Stevens Institute of Technology, and Mary Bone, his research assistant, managed the issuance and analysis of the RFI responses. The results provide significant data that will help to refine SysML, and also provide insights into how MBSE is practiced with SysML.

November 4, 2009 - OMG announces the latest set of examinations to certify practitioners of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) using the OMG Systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML). The program's founding sponsors IBM, Lockheed Martin and Sparx Systems have made construction and validation of the exams possible. The full announcement for the certification program can be found at  www.omg.org/news/releases/pr2009/11-04-09.htm. Information on becoming a candidate for the beta program can be found at www.omg.org/ocsmp/beta/info.htm. Please visit the certification home page at  www.omg.org/ocsmp/index.htm for up to date information on the OCSMP program.

June 29, 2009 - The SysML Request for Information (RFI) was issued at the June 09 OMG meeting. Your response to the RFI is requested via the SysML RFI on-line survey. This information will be used as an input to develop the SysML Roadmap in support of Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE). In addition, the response can help you assess how SysML and MBSE are being practiced within your organization. The RFI is intended to be distributed to SysML users, tool vendors, and academia to help identify how SysML is used, issues, proposed resolutions, and new features to support the roadmap. The roadmap could include a combination of incremental updates through the SysML Revision Task Force as well as a new Request For Proposal (RFP) for a significant revision to SysML. The RFI includes a survey with specific questions relative to SysML, and more general questions related to the application of SysML to model-based systems engineering (MBSE).   Response are due by November 9, 2009 with the results and selected responses to be presented at the OMG SE DSIG meeting the week of December 7-11, 2009. Dr Rob Cloutier from Stevens Institute prepared the on-line survey format and will be compiling the survey results to be made available to OMG, INCOSE, and other members of the systems engineering community.

May 15, 2009 - OMG and the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) today announced that they have agreed to work together on the development of OMG's new program to certify Systems Engineers and other practitioners on the OMG SysML standard. The program is called OCSMP (OMG-Certified Systems Modeling Professional). The OCSMP will enable Systems Engineering professionals to assess and demonstrate their knowledge and skills in SysML and its application to MBSE, and help organizations grow their capability in this critical skill area. The program will consist of four examinations and certifications representing successive levels of capability. The full announcement can be found at www.omg.org/news/releases/pr2009/05-15-09.htm.

What is new-Previous:

• SysML v1.1 was announced as an available specification on December 3, 2008
• The OMG SysML Project Portal includes links to both the SysML/AP233 Mapping and the  SysML and Modelica Integration activities.
• The SysML Information Days was held on December 8-11, 2008 in conjunction with the OMG technical meeting in Santa Clara, California. The event provided a forum for end users, tool vendors, and academia to share practices and lessons learned from early applications of SysML, and also discuss future directions for SysML v2.0. The summary can be found at www.omg.org/cgi-bin/doc?syseng/08-12-01.
  

What is OMG SysML?

The OMG systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML) is a general-purpose graphical modeling language for specifying, analyzing, designing, and verifying complex systems that may include hardware, software, information, personnel, procedures, and facilities. In particular, the language provides graphical representations with a semantic foundation for modeling system requirements, behavior, structure, and parametrics, which is used to integrate with other engineering analysis models. SysML represents a subset of UML 2 with extensions needed to satisfy the requirements of the UML for Systems Engineering RFP as indicated in Figure 1. SysML leverages the OMG XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) to exchange modeling data between tools, and is also intended to be compatible with the evolving ISO 10303-233 systems engineering data interchange standard.

Figure 1. Relationship between SysML and UML

The UML for Systems Engineering RFP was developed jointly by the OMG and the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and issued by the OMG in March 2003. The RFP specified the requirements for extending UML to support the needs of the systems engineering community. The SysML Specification was developed in response to these requirements by the diverse group of tool vendors, end users, academia, and government representatives. The Object Management Group announced the adoption of the OMG SysML on July 6, 2006 and the availability of OMG SysML v1.0 in September 2007.

SysML Diagram Summary

The SysML diagram types are identified in Figure 2 and summarized below. Refer to the OMG SysML Tutorial for an overview of the language or the APL MBSE with SysML course material for a more detailed description. (Note: Because these are large files, it is recommended that you save to your desktop by right clicking and save target)

Figure 2. SysML Diagram Types

The block is the basic unit of structure in SysML and can be used to represent hardware, software, facilities, personnel, or any other system element. The system structure is represented by block definition diagrams and internal block diagrams. A block definition diagram describes the system hierarchy and system/component classifications. The internal block diagram describes the internal structure of a system in terms of its parts, ports, and connectors. The package diagram is used to organize the model.

The behavior diagrams include the use case diagram, activity diagram, sequence diagram, and state machine diagram. A use-case diagram provides a high-level description of functionality that is achieved through interaction among systems or system parts. The activity diagram represents the flow of data and control between activities. A sequence diagram represents the interaction between collaborating parts of a system. The state machine diagram describes the state transitions and actions that a system or its parts perform in response to events.

SysML includes a graphical construct to represent text based requirements and relate them to other model elements. The requirements diagram captures requirements hierarchies and requirements derivation, and the satisfy and verify relationships allow a modeler to relate a requirement to a model element that satisfies or verifies the requirements. The requirement diagram provides a bridge between the typical requirements management tools and the system models.

The parametric diagram represents constraints on system property values such as performance, reliability, and mass properties, and serves as a means to integrate the specification and design models with engineering analysis models.

SysML also includes an allocation relationship to represent various types of allocation, including allocation of functions to components, logical to physical components, and software to hardware.

A simple example of some of the key diagram types is highlighted in Figure 3.

Figure 3. The Four Pillars of SysML

The OMG SysML Specification includes diagram element tables in chapters 7-17 that identifies allowable symbols on each of the diagram types, as well as usage examples. Fragments corresponding to the design of a hybrid sports utility vehicle (HSUV) are included in the sample problem in Appendix B of the specification.

Top

Specification:

The OMG SysML v1.2 was published in June, 2010.  The specification documents and schema files are linked from  www.omg.org/spec/SysML/1.2/.  The specification document without change bars is OMG document formal/2010-06-01.  The document including change bars from Version 1.1 is formal/2010-06-02.   The schema files are contained in OMG document ptc/2010-03-01.

Version 2.3 of UML, on which SysML now depends, was released as a formal specification in mid-May, and is available at www.omg.org/spec/UML/2.3. 

Notable changes in Version 1.2 of SysML include:

• Synchronization with changes in UML 2.3
  • Conjugate ports metamodel and notation
  • Naming of interruptible activity regions
• Inclusion of UML instance specifications
• Inclusion of UML structured activity nodes
• Inclusion of UML multiple item flow notation
• Improvements to Unit and QuantityKind support for value types, and a non-normative model to define systems of units and quantities

The available specification includes refinements to the OMG SysML v1.1 proposed through the SysML v1.2 Revision Task Force (RTF) as summarized above. The scope of the changes are managed and intended to have minor impact on the end user, but may impact tool implementation. The SysML Revision Task Force (RTF) for SysML v1.3 will continue to propose refinements to the v1.2 specification for approval by the OMG.

Readers should refer to section 3.2 of the specification for instructions on "How to read this specification". The requirements traceability matrix, which traces the requirements from the v1.0 specification to the original requirements in the UML for SE RFP, is contained in a separate document (ptc/2007-03-09).

PREVIOUS SPECIFICATION VERSIONS BELOW

The formal public version of the OMG SysML v1.1 was published by the OMG as an "Available Specification" in December 2008. The OMG document numbers are formal/2008-11-01 (with change bars) and formal/2008-11-02 (without change bars). All files for the SysML 1.1 specification are linked from the specification page at www.omg.org/spec/SysML/1.1/.

The OMG SysML v1.0 was issued as an "Available Specification" in September 2007. The v1,0 spec incorporated changes from the SysML Finalization Task Force (FTF) final report that was submitted to the OMG in March, 2007. The available specification included refinements to the final adopted specification from May 2006 and other editorial corrections.

The supporting documents included the XMI v2.1 Serialization of the SysML Profile ( ad/06-03-02)and the SysML Glossary (ad/06-03-04) which are referenced in appendixes D and F of the specification respectively. The presentation to the OMG (ad/06-04-08) is also included below.

• SMT Final Revised Submission Presentation to ADTF (ad/06-04-08) - 26 April 2006
• SysML v1.0 Draft Support Document - XMI v2.1 Serialization (ad/06-03-02) - 3 April 2006
• SysML v1.0 Draft Support Document - Glossary (ad/06-03-04) - 3 April 2006

Top

Publications:

       Papers

• Towards a state based control architecture for large telescopes: Laying a foundtation at the VLT R. Karban, N. Kornweibel, ESO, Garching, Germany, D. Dvorak, M. Ingham, D. Wagner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA, 13th International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems, October 2011  
• Satellites to Supply Chains, Energy to Finance SLIM for Model-Based Systems Engineering, Part 1: Motivation and Concept of SLIM. Manas Bajaj, Dirk Zwemer, Russell Peak, Alex Phung, Andy Scott, Miyako Wilson (2011). Presented at the 21st Annual INCOSE International Symposium, Denver, CO, June 20-23, 2011.
• Satellites to Supply Chains, Energy to Finance SLIM for Model-Based Systems Engineering, Part 2: Applications of SLIM. Manas Bajaj, Dirk Zwemer, Russell Peak, Alex Phung, Andy Scott, Miyako Wilson (2011). Presented at the 21st Annual INCOSE International Symposium, Denver, CO, June 20-23, 2011.
• "Model-Based System Development for Managing the Evolution of a Common Submarine Combat System" Steven W Mitchell, AFCEA/GMU 2010 Symposium on Critical Issues in C4I,, May, 2010
• "Complex Product Family Modeling for Common Submarine Combat System MBSE" Steven W Mitchell, 3rd International Conference on MBSE, September, 2010
• "System Modelling Language explained"                                                                         FINANCE, Guillaume, Object Direct, October, 2010  (Note: For French version, refer to wiki.objetdirect.com/expertise/Pr%C3%A9sentation_du_langage_SysML.
• "An Overview of the SysML-Modelica Transformation Specification"                                 Cole, Paredis, C.J.J., Bernard, Y., Burkhart, R.M., de Koning, H.-P., Friedenthal, S., Fritzson, P., Rouquette, N.F., and Schamai, W., INCOSE IS 2010, June, 2010
• "Piloting Model Based Engineering Techniques for Spacecraft Concepts"                              Cole, Bjorn, Chris Delp, Kenny Donahue, INCOSE IS 2010, June, 2010
• "SysML 2009 Request for Information (RFI) Response Summary"                                             Bone, M., Cloutier, R., 8th Conference on Systems Engineering Research, March 2010
• "INCOSE INSIGHT Vol 12-Issue 4-Dec09-MBSE Themed Issue"                                         INCOSE INSIGHT Vol 12-Issue 4, December, 2009
• "Toward Model Re-usability for the Development of Telescope Control Systems"                   Karban, Robert, L. Andolfato, M. Zamparelli, ICALEPCS 2009, October 12, 2009
• "A Computational Product Model for Conceptual Design Using SysML"
  Wlkl,Stefan, Kristina Shea,  Proceedings of ASME, Aug 30 - Sept 2 2009,
• "Exploring Model Based Engineering for Large Telescopes"
  Karban, Robert, M Zamparelli, B Bauvir, B Koehler, L Noethe, A Balestra, SPIE Astronomical
  Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2008,
• "Building Bridges Between Systems and Software With SysML and UML"
  Matthew Hause, Francis Thom,  INCOSE Intl. Symposium, June ' 2008
• "Integrating Models and Simulations of Continuous Dynamics into SysML"
  Thomas Johnson, Christiaan Paredis, Roger Burkhart, Jan ' 2008
• "Utilisation de SysML pour la modlisation des rseaux de capteurs sans fil. Langages et Modles Objets",Nicolas Belloir, Jean-Michel Bruel, Natacha Hoang, and CongDuc Pham. (LMO'08), Montral, Canada, 2-7 March 2008. RNTI.
• "Modeling Continuous System Dynamics in SysML"
  Thomas Johnson, Jonathan Jobe, Christiaan Paredis, Roger Burkhart, Proceedings of the IMECE 2007, Nov ' 2007
• "Survey of Model-Based Systems Engineering Methodologies (MBSE) Rev B"
  INCOSE-TD-2007-003-01, June 10, 2008, original author Jeff A Estefan
• "Simulation-Based Design Using SysMLPart 1: A Parametrics Primer",
  RS Peak, RM Burkhart, SA Friedenthal, MW Wilson, M Bajaj, I Kim, INCOSE Intl. Symposium, June ' 2007
• "Simulation-Based Design Using SysML--Part 2: Celebrating Diversity by Example",
  RS Peak, RM Burkhart, SA Friedenthal, MW Wilson, M Bajaj, I Kim, INCOSE Intl. Symposium, June ' 2007
• "An Overview of the Systems Modeling Language for Products and Systems Development",
  Laurent Balmelli, Oct ' 2006.
• "Model-driven systems development",
  L. Balmelli, D. Brown, M. Cantor, M. Mott, July ' 2006.
• "The SysML Modelling Language",
  Matthew Hause,  Fifteenth European Systems Engineering Conference, Sept ' 2006.
• "SysML and UML 2.0 Support for Activity Modeling",
  Bock. C., vol. 9 no.2, pp. 160-186, Journal of International Council of Systems Engineering, 2006.
• "A SysML Extension for Bond Graphs Support",
  Turki S, Soriano T
• "SysML and Systems Engineering Applied to UML-Based SoC Design",
  Yves Vanderperren, Wim Dehaene
  • Presentation - SysML and Systems Engineering Applied to SOC Design
• "From UML/SysML to Matlab/Simulink: Current State and Future Perspectives",
  Yves Vanderperren, Wim Dehaene