{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T02:01:15Z","timestamp":1781056875959,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,28]],"date-time":"2019-03-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1553731200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009910","name":"Naval Postgraduate School","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HQ0034-18-1-0006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HQ0034-18-1-0006"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009910","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Some authors suggest that transitioning requirements engineering from the traditional statements in natural language with shall clauses to model-based requirements within a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) environment could improve communication, requirements traceability, and system decomposition, among others. Requirement elements in the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) fail to fulfill this objective, as they are really a textual requirement in natural language as a model element. Current efforts to directly leverage behavioral and structural models of the system lack an overarching theoretical framework with which to assess the adequacy of how those models are used to capture requirements. This paper presents an approach to construct true model-based requirements in SysML. The presented approach leverages some of SysML\u2019s behavioral and structural models and diagrams, with specific construction rules derived from Wymore\u2019s mathematical framework for MBSE and taxonomies of requirements and interfaces. The central proposition of the approach is that every requirement can be modeled as an input\/output transformation. Examples are used to show how attributes traditionally thought of as non-functional requirements can be captured, with higher precision, as functional transformations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems7020019","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,29]],"date-time":"2019-03-29T03:38:52Z","timestamp":1553830732000},"page":"19","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":41,"title":["Constructing True Model-Based Requirements in SysML"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9378-0795","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alejandro","family":"Salado","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Wach","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Buede, D.M. (2009). The Engineering Design of Systems: Models and Methods, Wiley.","DOI":"10.1002\/9780470413791"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Schneidera, F., Naughtona, H., and Berenbach, B. (2012, January 19\u201322). New Challenges in Systems Engineering and Architecting. Proceedings of the Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER) 2012, St. Louis, MO, USA."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Helming, J., Koegel, M., Schneider, F., Haeger, M., Kaminski, C., Bruegge, B., and Berenbach, B. (2010, January 28). Towards a unified Requirements Modeling Language. Proceedings of the 2010 Fifth International Workshop on Requirements Engineering Visualization, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/REV.2010.5625659"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mordecai, Y., and Dori, D. (2017, January 11\u201313). Model-based requirements engineering: Architecting for system requirements with stakeholders in mind. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Systems Engineering Symposium (ISSE), Vienna, Austria.","DOI":"10.1109\/SysEng.2017.8088273"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fockel, M., and Holtmann, J. (2014, January 25). A requirements engineering methodology combining models and controlled natural language. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 4th International Model-Driven Requirements Engineering Workshop (MoDRE), Karlskrona, Sweden.","DOI":"10.1109\/MoDRE.2014.6890827"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"57","article-title":"Model-driven user requirements specification using SysML","volume":"3","author":"Vrancken","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Softw."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Adedjouma, M., Dubois, H., and Terrier, F. (2011, January 27\u201329). Requirements Exchange: From Specification Documents to Models. Proceedings of the 16th IEEE International Conference on Engineering of Complex Computer Systems, Las Vegas, NV, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICECCS.2011.42"},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Friedenthal, S., Moore, A., and Steiner, R. (2015). A Practical Guide to SysML\u2014The Systems Modeling Language, Morgan Kaufman. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Pandian, M.K.S., Suri, K., Cadavid, J., Barosan, I., Brand, M., Alf\u00e9rez, M., and G\u00e9rard, S. (2017, January 3\u20137). Towards Industry 4.0: Gap Analysis between Current Automotive MES and Industry Standards Using Model-Based Requirement Engineering. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Software Architecture Workshops (ICSAW), Gothenburg, Sweden."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1007\/s11518-016-5315-3","article-title":"A contribution to the scientific foundations of systems engineering: Solution spaces and requirements","volume":"26","author":"Salado","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Wymore, A.W. (1993). Model-Based Systems Engineering, CRC Press."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"348","DOI":"10.1002\/sys.21274","article-title":"A Categorization Model of Requirements Based on Max-Neef\u2019s Model of Human Needs","volume":"17","author":"Salado","year":"2014","journal-title":"Syst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kossiakoff, A., Sweet, W.N., Seymour, S.J., and Biemer, S.M. (2011). Systems Engineering Principles and Practice, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. [2nd ed.].","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118001028"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"405","DOI":"10.1109\/TSMC.2015.2502953","article-title":"Reducing Excess Requirements through Orthogonal Categorizations during Problem Formulation: Results of a Factorial Experiment","volume":"47","author":"Salado","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Syst."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Badreddin, O., Sturm, A., and Lethbridge, T.C. (2014, January 25). Requirement traceability: A model-based approach. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 4th International Model-Driven Requirements Engineering Workshop (MoDRE), Karlskrona, Sweden.","DOI":"10.1109\/MoDRE.2014.6890829"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Borgne, A.L., Belloir, N., Bruel, J., and Nguyen, T. (2016, January 18\u201321). Formal Requirements Engineering for Smart Industries: Toward a Model-Based Graphical Language. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Conferences on Ubiquitous Intelligence & Computing, Advanced and Trusted Computing, Scalable Computing and Communications, Cloud and Big Data Computing, Internet of People, and Smart World Congress (UIC\/ATC\/ScalCom\/CBDCom\/IoP\/SmartWorld), Toulouse, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/UIC-ATC-ScalCom-CBDCom-IoP-SmartWorld.2016.0160"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schmitz, D., Nissen, H.W., Jarke, M., and Rose, T. (2010, January 27). Relating domain model based requirements management and situational method engineering. Proceedings of the 2010 Third International Workshop on Managing Requirements Knowledge, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/MARK.2010.5623815"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Holt, J., Perry, S., Brownsword, M., Cancila, D., Hallerstede, S., and Hansen, F.O. (2012, January 16\u201319). Model-based requirements engineering for system of systems. Proceedings of the 2012 7th International Conference on System of Systems Engineering (SoSE), Genova, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/SYSoSE.2012.6384145"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Holder, K., Zech, A., Ramsaier, M., Stetter, R., Niedermeier, H.-P., Rudolph, S., and Till, M. (2017). Model-Based Requirements Management in Gear Systems Design Based on Graph-Based Design Languages. Appl. Sci., 7.","DOI":"10.3390\/app7111112"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1007\/s10270-016-0525-1","article-title":"Model-based requirements specification of real-time systems with UML, SysML and MARTE","volume":"17","author":"Ribeiro","year":"2018","journal-title":"Softw. Syst. Model."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Marschall, F., and Schoemnakers, M. (2003, January 7\u201310). Towards model-based requirements engineering for web-enabled B2B applications. Proceedings of the 10th IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer-Based Systems, Huntsville, AL, USA."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"252","DOI":"10.1109\/JSYST.2014.2312051","article-title":"A Model-Based Approach for Requirements Engineering for Systems of Systems","volume":"9","author":"Holt","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Syst. J."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Saadatmand, M., Cicchetti, A., and Sj\u00f6din, M. (2012, January 5\u20138). Toward Model-Based Trade-off Analysis of Non-functional Requirements. Proceedings of the 2012 38th Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, Izmir, Turkey.","DOI":"10.1109\/SEAA.2012.23"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Reza, H., Sehgal, R., Straub, J., and Alexander, N. (2017, January 4\u201311). Toward model-based requirement engineering tool support. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/AERO.2017.7943647"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lu, C., Chang, C., Chu, W.C., Cheng, Y., and Chang, H. (August, January 28). A Requirement Tool to Support Model-Based Requirement Engineering. Proceedings of the 2008 32nd Annual IEEE International Computer Software and Applications Conference, Turku, Finland.","DOI":"10.1109\/COMPSAC.2008.232"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wanderley, F., Silva, A., Araujo, J., and Silveira, D.S. (2014, January 25). SnapMind: A framework to support consistency and validation of model-based requirements in agile development. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 4th International Model-Driven Requirements Engineering Workshop (MoDRE), Karlskrona, Sweden.","DOI":"10.1109\/MoDRE.2014.6890825"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cardei, I., Fonoage, M., and Shankar, R. (2008, January 7\u201310). Model Based Requirements Specification and Validation for Component Architectures. Proceedings of the 2008 2nd Annual IEEE Systems Conference, Montreal, QC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/SYSTEMS.2008.4519001"},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"The International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) (2019, January 13). Guide for Writing Requirements. Available online: https:\/\/tcsd.instructure.com\/files\/99427\/download?download_frd=1."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1002\/sys.20097","article-title":"Toward a property based requirements theory: System requirements structured as a semilattice","volume":"11","author":"Micouin","year":"2008","journal-title":"Syst. Eng."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1016\/j.infsof.2013.11.004","article-title":"Model-based requirements verification method: Conclusions from two controlled experiments","volume":"56","author":"Aceituna","year":"2014","journal-title":"Inf. Softw. Technol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aceituna, D., Do, H., Walia, G.S., and Lee, S. (2011, January 30). Evaluating the use of model-based requirements verification method: A feasibility study. Proceedings of the Workshop on Empirical Requirements Engineering (EmpiRE 2011), Trento, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/EmpiRE.2011.6046248"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Siegl, S., Hielscher, K.S., and German, R. (October, January 27). Model Based Requirements Analysis and Testing of Automotive Systems with Timed Usage Models. Proceedings of the 2010 18th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/RE.2010.49"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wach, P., and Salado, A. (2019, January 3\u20134). Can Wymore\u2019s Mathematical Framework Underspin SysML? An Investigation of State Machines. Proceedings of the Conference on Systems Engineering Research (CSER), Washington, DC, USA.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procs.2019.05.076"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Teufl, S., Mou, D., and Ratiu, D. (2013, January 15\u201319). MIRA: A Tooling-Framework to Experiment with Model-Based Requirements Engineering. Proceedings of the 2013 21st IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.","DOI":"10.1109\/RE.2013.6636740"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"London, B., and Miotto, P. (2014, January 1\u20138). Model-based requirement generation. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Big Sky, MT, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/AERO.2014.6836450"},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"von Bertalanffy, L. (1969). General Systems Theory\u2014Foundations, Development, Applications, George Braziller, Inc."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tjong, S.F., Hallam, N., and Hartley, M. (2006, January 20\u201322). Improving the Quality of Natural Language Requirements Specifications through Natural Language Requirements Patterns. Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology, Seoul, Korea.","DOI":"10.1109\/CIT.2006.103"}],"container-title":["Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/7\/2\/19\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T12:41:13Z","timestamp":1760186473000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/7\/2\/19"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,28]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]}},"alternative-id":["systems7020019"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/systems7020019","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-8954"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-8954","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,28]]}}}