Can Wymore’s Mathematical Framework Underpin SysML? An Initial Investigation of State Machines

Model-based system engineering (MBSE) has been suggested to have significant benefits to include early verification and validation cycles and predictive analytics. Multiple languages for modeling the engineering of systems exist; the most widely used being Systems Modeling Language (SysML). SysML is descriptive in nature, meaning it contextualizes the relationships in the system model. While this is useful, it lacks a rigorously established mathematical framework that would allow for understanding of emergent behavior, pattern recognition, vulnerability assessment, and a scientific approach to modeling of systems among other capabilities. An internally consistent mathematical framework for MBSE was proposed by Wayne Wymore in 1993, which may provide what is necessary to overcome the descriptive limitation of SysML. In this article, we perform an initial assessment of the feasibility of underpinning Wymore mathematical system construct to SysML by comparing Wymore’s Moore-based state machines to SysML state machine diagrams. Specifically, we focus on the mathematical capturing of orthogonality through system coupling.