Spidel Tech Solutions, Inc.

Systems

This section introduces the Systems Perspective. There are a large number of topics related to system design, but what can be said about systems that applies to any system? A system is simply a collection of interacting components that are affected by and effect their environment. This admittedly general definition includes all kinds of things that are not usually thought to be systems. Here is a list of some diverse systems; trains, boats, planes, planets, businesses, networks, life forms, educational institutions, diapers, buildings, medical equipment, weapons, computers, mines, roads, et.al..

The Three Faces of Systems

Systems can be complex things.

As such they are difficult to apprehend in a single vision. Many perspectives are necessary to comprehend all their aspects.

Components

For example systems are composed of parts. These parts can be so complex as to require their own separate description. But how they are assembled with each other is important to the system. A carburetor used to be a complicated part of a lawnmower engine. As a component, it connects to the throttle, intake manifold and the air filter. The following diagram shows a system and its principal parts.

Functions

Systems do things that are described as functions. In other words a function is the description of something that a system does. Functions are often described using algorithms.

The list of system functions can be quite large.

States

A system changes state when interacting with its environment. This means that a system has consequences for what it does and what is done to it. The system changes state when interacting with its environment. The functions a system can perform depends on its state. The rules for state changes can be quite complex.

So physical, temporal and functional perspectives are required to understand a system. All but the simplest systems have many ways to be perceived.

In the next section we will take up with how to define what is in the system.

Back | Next | Environment | Interaction | Components

Wikipedia Enrichment