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Abstract—Design of future hard infrastructure must consider Infrastructure are intricately woven of technical compo-
emergent behaviors from cross-system interdependencies. Under- nents having coupled structure and behaviors. System-level
standing these interdependencies is challenging due to high levels emergence contributes to cases where individual events yield
of integration in high-performance systems and their operation as
a collaborative system-of-systems managed by multiple organiza- unexpected, widespread behaviors across system boundaries.
tions. Existing modeling frameworks have limitations for strategic A few examples include the 1994 Northridge earthquake,
planning either because important spatial structure attributes September 2001 World Trade Center disaster, and August 2003
have been abstracted out or behavioral models are oriented Northeast blackout [3], [4], [5]. System coupling in these cases
to shorter-term analysis with a static network structure. This arises from various types of interdependencies across systems:
paper presents a formal modeling framework as a first step to
integrating infrastructure system models in a system-of-systems physical resource flows, cyber information flows, geographic
simulation addressing these concerns. First, a graph-theoretic co-location, or other logical dependencies [6].
structural framework captures the spatial dimension of physical To emphasize the impact of infrastructure interdependencies
infrastructure. An element’s simulation state includes location, on performance, consider complexity as “a measure of uncer-
parent, resource contents, and operational state properties. Sec- tainty in achieving the specified [functional requirements],”
ond, a functional behavioral framework captures the temporal
dimension of infrastructure operations at a level suitable for here, life-cycle value or sustainability objectives [7]. Sources
strategic analysis. Resource behaviors determine the flow of of complexity in infrastructure systems include structure—
resources into or out of nodes and element behaviors modify other components (system elements), interactions between elements,
state including the network structure. Two application use cases and the system architecture—and behavior over short and long
illustrate the usefulness of the modeling framework in varying time-scales [8]. These sources of complexity are illustrated in
contexts. The first case applies the framework to future space
exploration infrastructure with an emphasis on mobile system Fig. 1 for a notional infrastructure system. Reference [9] quan-
elements and discrete resource flows. The second case applies tifies architectural complexity as a function of the graph energy
the framework to infrastructure investment in Saudi Arabia of system dependency network. As a measure of entropy, graph
with an emphasis on immobile system elements aggregated at energy is lowest for centralized architectures and increases for
the city level and continuous resource flows. Finally, conclusions more distributed architectures. Infrastructure systems having
present future work planned for implementing the framework in
a simulation software tool. more interconnected components in a distributed structure
exhibit higher architectural complexity which is linked to
I. I NTRODUCTION challenges of system integration.
In the face of higher complexity, some hard infrastructure
Modern societies rely on widespread infrastructure to pro- seek to strengthen system coupling for improved performance
vide critical services which in turn enable productive societal (e.g. resource efficiency) through element-element, element-
activities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security iden- system, and system-system integration.1 Element-element in-
tifies 18 critical infrastructure sectors, of which we focus on tegration combines the functions of coupled infrastructure
a subset relating to physical resource management such as elements in an integrated element. For example, cogeneration
agriculture and food, energy, water and wastewater, commu- and combined cycle plants use waste heat from electricity gen-
nications, and transportation [1]. These “hard” infrastructure eration for a secondary purpose such as heating or water de-
sectors consist of large physical networks of interrelated salination. Element-system integration combines the functions
components which produce and transport resources. Like other of coupled infrastructure elements with an existing system. For
engineering systems, they are large-scale, high-cost, and long- example, future electric vehicles may interconnect with the
living, motivating strategic decisions for their design and electrical grid to provide energy storage for variable renew-
operation to maximize life-cycle value. With an emphasis
1 There is a subtle distinction between elements and systems specified by
on sustainability, life-cycle value can be decomposed to eco-
an implicit unit of analysis. In general, elements are the lowest-level unit
nomically efficient performance, environmentally responsible implemented in a model which are aggregated into systems; however one
impacts, and social equity of access to services [2]. model’s elements may be another’s systems.
an emphasis on system architecture to enable integration of
Component infrastructure models. The modeling framework, once imple-
Interaction
Infrastructure mented in a simulation model, could contribute to improved
Element complex infrastructure system design.
Interdependency This paper is organized as follows. Section II provides an
overview of past efforts in integrated modeling and simulation
for infrastructure systems. Section III presents the formal
modeling framework which captures structural and behavioral
Architecture dimensions of infrastructure system-of-systems. Section IV
applies the modeling framework to two use cases to verify
t
its generality and usefulness. Section V concludes with future
Short-term Long-term
work for simulation implementations.
Fig. 1. A notional infrastructure system represented as a graph of elements II. L ITERATURE R EVIEW
and their interdependencies highlighting component, interaction, and archi-
tectural sources of structural complexity and short- and long-term behavioral A large body of literature over the past decade addresses
complexity. challenges associated with understanding infrastructure sys-
tems. Many efforts are related to security and protection
planning under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and
able sources such as solar and wind. Finally, system-system other national infrastructure protection programs. Reference
integration combines coupled systems in a directed system-of- [3] surveys interdependency modeling in critical infrastruc-
systems built and centrally managed to fulfill specific purposes ture. The brief overview provided here identifies three areas
[10]. For example, the International Space Station integrates of contributing literature: conceptual frameworks, high-level
multiple systems such as atmospheric control, water recovery, aggregate models of system behaviors, and operational system
thermal regulation, and waste handling to sustain crew life reliability models.
in a partially closed-loop environment. Larger-scale terrestrial The first area of literature includes conceptual frameworks
infrastructure systems such as Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, of constructs which help create a common understanding of
conceptualized as a carbon-neutral, zero waste city, will also factors relating to infrastructure systems. However, conceptual
require integration of transportation, electricity, and building frameworks are not executable or computable as a simulation
systems to meet sustainability goals [11]. model and only guide this research effort. Reference [6]
The lack of a single central authority in a directed system- identifies physical, cyber, geographic, and logical categories of
of-systems is a barrier to widespread system-system integra- infrastructure interdependencies. From this perspective, inter-
tion. Infrastructure systems are often independently managed dependencies are static attributes of the built system structure,
by multiple public agencies and commercial firms and op- not necessarily behaviors related to nominal operation. Further
erate more like a collaborative system-of-systems [10]. No describing behaviors, [13] presents a functional classification
one organization has complete control and some level of for complex systems consisting of a 5 × 5 matrix of operands
collaborative design is required to achieve mutual gains. This and operations shown in Table I. Systems are classified by one
point emphasized in a recent National Research Council report or more functions–for example, a power plant is FM /FE as it
which warns that “focusing on one system, one issue, or transforms matter to create energy.
one problem at a time, the nation runs the risk of wasting A second area of literature uses aggregated infrastructure
increasingly scarce resources and creating new problems for simulation models for high-level understanding of interdepen-
future generations,” calling for “collaborative, systems-based dencies. Several examples use the system dynamics formalism
approaches to leverage available resources and provide for to specify the behavior of coupled infrastructure [14], [15].
cost-effective solutions across institutional and jurisdictional These approaches use aggregated system models with explicit
boundaries” [12]. In the absence of a central authority, the couplings specified by shared state variables. Some applica-
architectural complexity, i.e. integration of component sys- tions also consider soft infrastructure or social aspects of the
tems, is a significant challenge to implementing infrastructure technical systems. The system dynamics formalism allows
systems. for dynamic response to disturbances, however the data are
Thus, a tension emerges in modern infrastructure design: aggregated at the system level such that structural changes
a desire for increased performance to meet sustainability from planning or design activities for specific infrastructure
goals seeks to increase integration; however the resulting elements are not considered separately. For example, resources
complexity impedes understanding of the system behaviors such as water have transportation costs proportional to spatial
and may contribute to overall lower performance. To address attributes such as elevation change and distance traveled which
this issue, this paper develops a common modeling framework are commonly abstracted out of the aggregated system model.
for future analysis of infrastructure system-of-systems in an A third area of literature uses detailed simulation models
integrated simulation environment. The framework considers to represent infrastructure operations with the objective of
both structure and behavior as sources of complexity with analyzing short-term behaviors resulting from disturbances. To
TABLE I
S YSTEM F UNCTION C LASSIFIED BY P ROCESS AND F IVE O PERANDS A. Spatial-Structural Framework
The spatial-structural framework describes the instantaneous
Process Organisms Matter Energy Information Currency
state of an infrastructure system-of-systems using formal def-
Transform FO FM FE FI FC
initions. It includes a context framework applicable across
Transport PO PM PE PI PC
models in a common domain and an instantiation framework
Store SO SM SE SI SC
for the unique components in a particular model.
Exchange XO XM XE XI XC
1) Context Framework: The context framework defines the
Control CO CM CE CI CC
allowable locations and resource types which can be used
across multiple model instantiations. In practice, each con-
text framework implementation is targeted for an application
increase modeling detail, this class of models use network-
domain representing unique spatial characteristics.
based or graph-theoretic representations of infrastructure ele-
Locations are based on the graph-theoretic concept of nodes,
ments. For example, [16] define a node as “an entity that acts
defined in this case as spatial units of aggregation where
as a source, produces, consumes, or transforms a resource...”
resources are transferable between co-located infrastructure.
and an edge as “a physical or virtual entity that acts as
Some infrastructure are positioned between nodes as mobile
a conduit for flow for a physical quantity, information, or
(e.g. trucks, ships) or fixed (e.g. pipelines) distribution compo-
influence ... [representing] a direct level of dependence.” Here,
nents. Thus, for a set of nodes N, the set of allowable locations
physical, informational, geospatial, policy/procedural, and so-
is a set of node pairs
cietal dependencies each have a coupled structure-behavior
representation in the infrastructure network. Another approach L = {li } : li = (n0 , n1 )i , n0 , n1 ∈ N ∀ i (1)
uses a multi-layered network flow formulation to represent
interdependencies among infrastructure systems [17]. In this where li is a nodal location if n0 = n1 and an edge location
case. behaviors are determined in the context of an computable if n0 6= n1 . Edge locations are directed such that n0 is the
general equilibrium problem, operationalized by agent-based origin node and n1 is the destination node. L may not be a
simulation methods. In both cases, infrastructure networks are complete graph if constraints prevent infrastructure between
assumed to remain static over the course of a simulation, certain nodes (e.g. non-physically adjacent nodes for ground
a reasonable assumption for operational response. However, transportation).
guiding strategic decisions of infrastructure design and plan- The allowable resource types is a set
ning happen over longer timescales and at higher levels of T = {ti } (2)
aggregation with dynamic infrastructure network structure and
behavior. where each resource type ti corresponds to a mass-based
To summarize, the existing literature includes conceptual (e.g. water), energy-based (e.g. electrical energy), information-
frameworks for infrastructure structure and behavior, how- based (e.g. bits), currency-based (e.g. US dollars) or any other
ever these constructs alone are not executable as a model. resource measured using a ratio scale with a non-arbitrary zero
High-level system dynamics models rely on interdependencies point. A set of resources r is realized as a set of pairs of a
defined by shared variables and do not consider the spatial resource type and a positive real quantity, i.e.
structure of infrastructure elements. On the other hand, flow- r = {(t, q)i } : t ∈ T, q ∈ R+ ∀ i. (3)
network models representing both element-level structure and
behavior operate on a short time-scale with a static network Resources are aggregated by resource type and are fungible
structure. Thus, the gap our proposed modeling framework by type, whereas infrastructure are uniquely enumerated as
seeks to fill is to: discussed in the next section.
1) Disaggregate infrastructure systems into component el- 2) Instantiation Framework: The instantiation framework
ements representing spatial structure describes the infrastructure elements participating in a system-
2) Aggregate infrastructure system behaviors at scales suit- of-systems. The instantiated elements are a set
able for strategic planning E = {eij } (4)
3) Allow for dynamic infrastructure network structure cor-
responding to design and planning activities where each element eij is component j of system i. In
The next section describes a formal modeling framework this formulation, each element is uniquely assigned to one
addressing these objectives for application in a simulation tool system; however rather than sector-specific resource function-
supporting strategic infrastructure system-of-systems design. ality, the system assignment designates management or control
of infrastructure elements. For example, a combined-cycle
III. F ORMAL M ODELING F RAMEWORK power/desalination plant may operate with both water and
This section discusses the formal modeling framework in electricity resources, but is only managed by one organization
detail. First, the structural components are described as spa- (which may differ from other water or energy infrastructure).
tial simulation state. Second, the behavioral components are Elements have four stateful properties: resource contents,
described as temporal simulation state changes. location, parent element, and operational state. Elements are
the only containers of resources in the modeling framework. rin rout
rin ∪ fe−1 (rout )
Resources contained within an element are identified by a
contents function
C = C(e) : e 7→ r (5)
which maps an element e ∈ E to a set of resources r. rout ∪ fe (rin )
Storing
Elements exist at only one location at a time. An element’s Transporting
spatial position is identified by the location function rin ∪ ft−1 (rout )
r01 r01
L = L(e) : e 7→ l ∈ L (6)
which maps an element e ∈ E to an allowable location l.
Shorthand notations L0 (e) and L1 (e) are used to identify the rout ∪ ft (rin ) r10 r10
origin and destination nodes for directed elements. Transforming Exchanging
In addition to spatial location, elements can also be arranged
in a hierarchical structure of nested relationships. Nested Fig. 2. Storing, transporting, transforming, and exchanging behaviors modify
structure is identified by the parent function nodal resource flows by consuming and producing resources.
MED
YAN RIY
Fig. 3. Subset of locations for Mars exploration including Kennedy Space JED MAK
Center (KSC), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Reference Mars Orbit (RMO), and
Gale Crater (GC) and trajectories KSC–LEO, LEO–RMO, and RMO–GC.