Pattern based engineering of System of Systems - a systematic literature review

The increasing integration of products into System of Systems (SoS) foster both the development complexity and the complexity of the systems. Patterns offer a promising approach to support the understanding and to achieve a higher efficiency in engineering. To get an overview of the definition and applications of SoS and patterns this contribution presents the result of a systematic literature review (SLR), that summarises different interpretations and understandings of SoS and patterns. The results of the SLR are then used to evaluate the transfer and applicability of patterns for SoS engineering. 6 out of 778 papers have been identified as main input for a comprehensive SoS understanding in which the characteristics were elaborated. For the second part, the field of patterns was analyzed from a database of 3676, from which 83 relevant sources were considered. In addition to the finding that the pattern approach has repeatedly addressed challenges of the time in the past, the advantages of patterns were also consolidated from different sources. A central finding is that the advantages of patterns can address the challenges of SoS engineering and promote understanding in the complex SoS field.