Data-Message Modeling for Multi-Lane Architectures on an IMA Platform Using the eSAM Method

The Electronic System Architecture Modeling (eSAM) method has been developed as a novel approach to modeling the integration of system components interconnected across an open Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) platform. Fundamental to this Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach, eSAM enables system integration models to be constructed independently and agnostic to the system allocation to the IMA platform. As opposed to traditional logical/physical model separation, eSAM employs a hybrid modeling method where both logical and physical elements exist in the same model. Hybrid model components are directly connected, similar to traditional federated architectures, even though components are physically connected through the IMA platform. This improves the clarity of the functional system integration, while correctly segregating the roles of system integration and IMA platform allocation. In this way, eSAM addresses a key challenge to modeling IMA system architectures. This paper focuses on the eSAM data and message model, which is core to the method. This includes the re-use of components and related data/message definitions in multi-lane architectures supporting high integrity and high availability solutions. Reuse is managed using template-instance modeling methods where a system part is defined as a template that can be instantiated many times in the system models. eSAM has been implemented using the MathWorks System Composer
^™
tool, which provides many inherent capabilities including model analysis functionality, which is described in this paper for the purposes of ensuring data interfaces are valid using edit-time checks.