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Foundations in Systems Integration
or a set of processes, an event or sequence or confluence of events, the juxtaposition of something physical, or enactments of something physical.
For human-built products, the mechanisms of integration are the processes comprised of individual acts or combined acts that constitute activities; the events that result from applying the function of a product or service,
or the combining or dissociation of objects. These mechanisms of integration
construct, bind, and instigate or allow for change in the natural and our
social world. Summarizing the general nature of mechanisms: mechanisms
have physical structure or result from physical structure, enactments of
structure or changes in structure modify behavior(s), and modifications are
often observed and measured. Mechanisms of integration are of three types:
those that depend on process (Machamer et al. 2000), those that express
themselves through events (Bechtel and Abrahamsen 2005), and those that
are inherent in the physical domain (e.g., the mechanics of object motion, or
avoidance of the effects of object motion) (Glennan 2002). The results of integration are both summative and formative—at once being both. Integrations
build on previous integrations while simultaneously forging new arrangements of coalescent parts. Integration drives the studies of every discipline
and field, permeates our thinking about theory, and guides our research.
Integration is a unifying process that satisfies Parmenides’ reality of one.*
exploring Integration Concepts
Integration deals with the inconsistencies and cross-purposes of all constituent parts, but neither as a mediator nor as an adjudicator. Integration is not
the trade space for suppositions either imposed as limitations on a project or
as constraints a posteriori in the form of allotments of time, cost, or skills. The
role of integration is not that of a mediator that negotiates or moderates the
exchange between objects. Integration is the result of accepting and using
what has been offered a priori from the various outputs of the systems engineering lifecycle process: a formative feasibility study that precedes the project;
determination of requirements through stakeholder elicitation and analysis;
preparation of the design that provides for the general context of the work
throughout the solution system’s lifecycle; development of an architecture
that determines the qualitative worth of the system; and specification of various design models (i.e., representations) that serve as the implementation
* It seems to be the nature of enquiry to examine phenomena for patterns, behaviors, and properties. The importance of patterns, behaviors, and properties has been thought fundamental
to explaining nature and human habitudes. Whether it is perception or realness, the quest for
a set of common, universal observations has rationalized a 2500 year enquiry to discover the
essence of the universe. The first to advocate that nature had oneness of character and a reality as only a whole was Parmenides of Elea, [se.500 BC] (Kirk et al. 2009). Parmenides’ view of
enquiry (What is it that is? What is it that is not? What is it that cannot be?) reinforces unity
as the object of knowledge—the universal object of nature. Since 500 BC his tenor of logic has
inspired thinking about time, motion, change, and unity.
Foundations in Systems Integration
or a set of processes, an event or sequence or confluence of events, the juxtaposition of something physical, or enactments of something physical.
For human-built products, the mechanisms of integration are the processes comprised of individual acts or combined acts that constitute activities; the events that result from applying the function of a product or service,
or the combining or dissociation of objects. These mechanisms of integration
construct, bind, and instigate or allow for change in the natural and our
social world. Summarizing the general nature of mechanisms: mechanisms
have physical structure or result from physical structure, enactments of
structure or changes in structure modify behavior(s), and modifications are
often observed and measured. Mechanisms of integration are of three types:
those that depend on process (Machamer et al. 2000), those that express
themselves through events (Bechtel and Abrahamsen 2005), and those that
are inherent in the physical domain (e.g., the mechanics of object motion, or
avoidance of the effects of object motion) (Glennan 2002). The results of integration are both summative and formative—at once being both. Integrations
build on previous integrations while simultaneously forging new arrangements of coalescent parts. Integration drives the studies of every discipline
and field, permeates our thinking about theory, and guides our research.
Integration is a unifying process that satisfies Parmenides’ reality of one.*
exploring Integration Concepts
Integration deals with the inconsistencies and cross-purposes of all constituent parts, but neither as a mediator nor as an adjudicator. Integration is not
the trade space for suppositions either imposed as limitations on a project or
as constraints a posteriori in the form of allotments of time, cost, or skills. The
role of integration is not that of a mediator that negotiates or moderates the
exchange between objects. Integration is the result of accepting and using
what has been offered a priori from the various outputs of the systems engineering lifecycle process: a formative feasibility study that precedes the project;
determination of requirements through stakeholder elicitation and analysis;
preparation of the design that provides for the general context of the work
throughout the solution system’s lifecycle; development of an architecture
that determines the qualitative worth of the system; and specification of various design models (i.e., representations) that serve as the implementation
* It seems to be the nature of enquiry to examine phenomena for patterns, behaviors, and properties. The importance of patterns, behaviors, and properties has been thought fundamental
to explaining nature and human habitudes. Whether it is perception or realness, the quest for
a set of common, universal observations has rationalized a 2500 year enquiry to discover the
essence of the universe. The first to advocate that nature had oneness of character and a reality as only a whole was Parmenides of Elea, [se.500 BC] (Kirk et al. 2009). Parmenides’ view of
enquiry (What is it that is? What is it that is not? What is it that cannot be?) reinforces unity
as the object of knowledge—the universal object of nature. Since 500 BC his tenor of logic has
inspired thinking about time, motion, change, and unity.