ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of a system of systems (SoS) and the challenges ahead to extend systems engineering (SE) to SoS engineering. It focuses on SoS architecting in terms of creating meta-architectures from collections of different systems. An attempt has been made to cover as many open questions in both theory and applications of SoS and system of systems engineering (SoSE). The birth of a new engineering field may be on the horizon—SoSE. An SoS is a collection of individual, possibly heterogeneous, but functional systems integrated together to enhance the overall robustness, lower the cost of operation, and increase the reliability of the overall complex (SoS) system. In the realm of open problems in SoS, just about anywhere one touches, there is an unsolved problem and immense attention is needed by many engineers and scientists. Integration of SoS implies that each system can communicate and interact with the SoS regardless of their hardware, software characteristics, or nature.
