EE 484
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Reference: Engineering a small system, Kurt Skytte, IEEE Spectrum
March 1991
Systems Engineering: “A logical process of activities which transforms a set
of requirements arising from a specific mission objective into a full
description of a system which fulfills the objective in an optimum way. It
insures that all aspects of a project have been considered and integrated into
a consistent whole.” 1998 Chambers Science and Technology Dictionary
In other words, system engineering translates a customer’s stated need into a
set of requirements and specifications for a system’s performance and
configuration. The process defines all the resources and specific tools
needed plus the stages in the product’s development. It also sets up checkpoints at each stage in the design cycle to insure that objectives are met and
that defects are corrected as early as possible, thus minimizing their impact
on the development schedule and on the product’s cost and quality. The final
system is then validated against the original requirements and specifications.
Systems Engineering Checklist
1. Requirements phase
2. System-design phase
3. Detailed design phase
4. System integration phase
5. Design verification and optimization phase
6. System validation phase
EE 484
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Requirements Phase
 Consult the customer to ascertain a complete understanding of
the mission objectives and needs
 Have the project team take the statement of needs and use it to
develop a detailed system level specification describing the system
functional requirements
System-design phase
 Develop a system architecture that supports the specified system
requirements
 Develop segment and subsystem level specifications
EE484
Requirements/Specifications/Parameters
1.Problem Description(Mission Objectives)
Send data collected at a remote site in Maine to the USC campus
Send computer data from Boston to Los Angeles
See the Super Bowl while cruising on your yacht in the Caribbean
Maintain continuous contact with all aircraft flying between Los Angeles
and Tokyo
Lock and unlock your car from a distance of 30 feet or less(RKE system).
2.System -level design specification
The system- level specification defines the details for the total system and
for the major segments . Thus a system-level specification defines the
system’s architecture in terms of functional segments and their interfaces.
3.Segment-level specifications
The segment-level specification contains the following information:
a) segment functional requirements
b) subsystem definitions
c) interfaces
4.Subsystem specifications
The subsystem specification contains the following information:
a) subsystem functional requirements
b) unit or component definitions
c) detailed design parameters
5.Unit/component specifications
The unit/component specifications contain the following information:
a) unit/component performance parameters(e.g. amplifiergain,bandwidth,DC power consumption)
b) size and weight
c) Environmental operating conditions
EE 484
TASK 1
 Develop a set of questions to ask the customer(the
instructor) to gain a better understanding of the mission
objectives
 Develop a preliminary system specification
 Develop a candidate system architecture and identify
major segments and subsystems
Due Dates:
1. First round of questions—1/15/03
2. Major topics/headings in the system specification-1/22/03
3. Develop a strawman system architecture and identify
major segments and subsystems-1/22/03
4. Submit system specification and candidate system
architecture-no later than 3/12/03