Another perspective on system of systems: A step towards an analytical framework

Over the course of the last several years there has been much discussion of a concept called the “system of systems” (SOS), and many proposed definitions that capture features of various SOS. These numerous definitions offer the means to identify SOS; yet, from an analytical point of view, we feel they do not offer the clarity required to construct a well grounded framework with which to analyze these SOS. Over the course of our research to develop such a framework, we realized that there is another perspective from which to view the notion of a SOS. This perspective, rooted in the analysis of a military SOS, explicitly recognizes three existential concepts present in any military SOS that are also likely present in non-military SOS. The purpose of this paper is to highlight these concepts, and relate them to the base of established literature regarding SOS.